TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

White House says more work needed before any Iran sanctions

Escalating tensions: This file picture released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Oct

Kevin Freking (The Jakarta Post)
Honolulu
Sun, January 3, 2016

Share This Article

Change Size

White House says more work needed before any Iran sanctions Escalating tensions: This file picture released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, claims to show the launching of an Emad long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile in an undisclosed location. Iran tested a ballistic missile again in November 2015, a U.S. official said Dec. 8, describing the second such test since this summer’s nuclear agreement. The State Department said only that it was conducting a "serious review" of such reports. The test occurred on Nov. 21, according to the official, coming on top of an Oct. 10 test Iran confirmed at the time. The official said other undeclared tests occurred earlier than that, but declined to elaborate. The official wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP) (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

E

span class="inline inline-center">Escalating tensions: This file picture released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, claims to show the launching of an Emad long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile in an undisclosed location. Iran tested a ballistic missile again in November 2015, a U.S. official said Dec. 8, describing the second such test since this summer'€™s nuclear agreement. The State Department said only that it was conducting a "serious review" of such reports. The test occurred on Nov. 21, according to the official, coming on top of an Oct. 10 test Iran confirmed at the time. The official said other undeclared tests occurred earlier than that, but declined to elaborate. The official wasn'€™t authorized to speak on the matter and demanded anonymity. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

The White House said on Saturday it has more diplomatic and technical work to do before it will announce any sanctions in response to ballistic missile launches by Iran.

The U.S. is considering designating a number of additional targets for sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile program. Congress has been notified of those deliberations.

Some lawmakers have criticized the administration for what they describe as delayed punitive action in response to Iran's recent missile tests.

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said the pact that the U.S. and others negotiated with Iran last year to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon will not impede future sanctions.

"The fact of the matter is we have additional work that needs to be done before we would announce additional designations, but this not something that we would negotiate with the Iranian government," Rhodes said. "They don't get a say in who we impose sanctions on."

Rhodes spoke with reporters about the year ahead in foreign policy as President Barack Obama prepared to return from his annual Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

Rhodes said the additional work the U.S. is undertaking is not based on push-back from Iran.

"We fully expect them to protest our sanctions. They do that when they know we're preparing them. They do that after we make announcements of designations." In this latest case, he said, "we just have additional work that we need to do as a U.S. government before we would announce additional designations." (**)

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.