Tag: sanctions

Trump Backs Off Promise To Sanction Russia, Issues Ultimatum To NATO

President Trump’s prior two week deadline where he vowed to make a big decision on Russia has come and gone. He’s now backing off the prior threat to impose heightened sanctions on Russia, including secondary sanctions which would seek to punish its trading partners, particularly China and India.

There’s been no peace agreement, and the latest out of both Russian and Ukrainian leaders suggests negotiations are effectively dead at this point, as Moscow forces keep advancing in the east village by village. There’s been little to no momentum from the Alaska summit with Putin.

On Saturday Trump made clear in a long Truth Social post that he’s backing off pulling the trigger on new sanctions, and listed things NATO members would have to do for it to happen. He set some new standards which are very unlikely to met by all NATO countries – or rather a significant ultimatum. 

All NATO countries must stop buying oil from Russia and in parallel agree to sweeping tariffs on China, Trump explained Saturday, throwing down the gauntlet. 

“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump wrote Social Saturday morning.

He described his words as a letter to America’s allies and to the world: “As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking,” he continued.

“China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip,” Trump’s ‘letter’ continues. He then made his position clear that tariffs on China would “be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR.”

China and India are of course at this moment the two biggest importers of Russian oil, in that order, but what’s less well known is that NATO member Turkey is the third largest. Ironically, Turkey maintains the second largest military in NATO, next to the United States.

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US-E3 Snapback Sanctions on Iran: Diplomacy out of the Barrel of a Gun

Iran has voiced a strong rebuke against the recent decision made by France, Germany, and the UK to invoke the UN Security Council’s “snapback” mechanism, which seeks to reimpose sanctions on Tehran regarding its nuclear program. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described this action as “unjustified, illegal, and lacking any legal basis.” He emphasised that Iran is prepared to respond decisively to safeguard its national rights and interests.

Tensions rose in 2025 after Trump’s return to the presidency in January, leading the US to reinstate its “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran amid ongoing negotiations for a new agreement. In June, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), sometimes referred to as “Israel’s spy agency,” declared Iran non-compliant with its nuclear safeguards under the NPT. Following US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Tehran ceased cooperation with the IAEA, denying access to its facilities. However, in June, IAEA inspectors had been allowed to return to Iran for the first time since Israel and the US targeted its nuclear facilities. European officials warned that the lack of monitoring and unverified stockpiles of highly enriched uranium pose serious proliferation risks, even though President Trump boasted about having obliterated Iran’s Nuclear facilities. France, Germany, and the UK— also known as the “E3” threatened that if Iran does not engage in meaningful negotiations by the end of August, they would activate the snapback mechanism to conclude by October, when Russia will assume the Council presidency.

DOCUMENT: NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran Resolution adopted on 12 June 2025 during the 1769th session (Source: IAEA)

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European Powers Trigger ‘Snapback’ Sanctions on Iran

The UK, France, and Germany have begun the process of reimposing UN Security Council sanctions on Iran under the “snapback” mechanism of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, a step that makes another US-Israeli war on Iran more likely.

The European countries, known as the E3, sent a letter to the UN Security Council notifying it that they were triggering the sanctions, which will take effect in 30 days. Iran has said that the E3 countries don’t have the right to reimpose the sanctions since it was the US that withdrew from and violated the JCPOA in 2018.

The E3 said they were open to reaching a diplomatic deal with Iran that could halt the sanctions, but it’s unclear what sort of agreement could be reached. Their demands include that Iran resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but Tehran’s recent decision to allow IAEA inspectors to return to Iran didn’t stop the E3 from triggering the sanctions.

Iran expelled IAEA inspectors in the wake of the US-Israeli war in response to the watchdog’s role in providing a pretext for the initial Israeli attack and for its failure to condemn the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. Tehran also suspects that Israel may have gotten the names of Iranian scientists who were assassinated in the war from the IAEA.

The E3 also wants Iran to resume nuclear negotiations with the US. Iranian officials have been clear that they’re open to diplomacy with Washington but want assurances that they won’t be attacked again since the US and Israel used the previous negotiations as a cover to launch the war.

The US welcomed the E3’s step to trigger the sanctions. “The United States appreciates the leadership of our E3 allies in this effort. Over the coming weeks, we will work with them and other Members of the UN Security Council to successfully complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly condemned the E3’s move as “unjustified, illegal, and lacking any legal basis,” and warned that Tehran would take steps in response. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will respond appropriately to this unlawful and unwarranted measure by the three European countries to protect its national rights and interests,” he said.

Some Iranian officials have warned that if snapback sanctions are re-imposed, Tehran could withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a step that could be used by Israel and the US as a pretext to launch another war, even though Israel is not a signatory to the NPT. Unlike Iran, Israel actually has a secret nuclear weapons program and a stockpile of nuclear weapons that’s not officially acknowledged by the US and Israel.

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DOJ Unveils Charges Against Haitian Gang Leader ‘Barbecue’ Over Sanction Violations

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Aug. 12 that it will charge Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier with conspiracy for his role in a scheme to transfer money illegally from the United States.

“Cherizier and a U.S. associate sought to raise funds in the United States to bankroll Cherizier’s violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement.

Cherizier was sanctioned in 2020 by the United States using the Magnitsky Act, which allows the president to impose sanctions for human rights abuses, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.

His indictment under the Magnitsky Act is the first of its kind in the history of the DOJ, she said.

The State Department is offering up to $5 million for the capture of Cherizier, who is nicknamed “Barbecue” because he is accused of notorious human rights abuses—including a 2018 massacre in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Saline, in which the bodies of victims were burned, cut into pieces, and fed to pigs and dogs.

Cherizier denies the charges, and told the Associated Press in 2019 that the nickname comes from his childhood, when his  mother was a street vendor who sold fried chicken.

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Report: European Union to Sanction Israel Next Week Over Gaza War

The European Union is planning to sanction Israel next week over the Gaza conflict.

The European elitists found violations of human rights obligations by Israel in Gaza.

Israel has been at war with Hamas since the terror group stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The terror group slaughtered families in their homes, targeted a rave party with hundreds of young adults, gunned down the young party-goers, and kidnapped hundreds of Jews on their way back to Gaza.

Israel retaliated with the promise to destroy Hamas in Gaza. The international community believes Israel has committed human rights violations in the process.

Now, EU officials are finalizing plans to sanction Israel this coming week.

Via Reuters.

However, deep divisions among member states suggest that only a few of the proposed measures—if any—are likely to be implemented.

According to an internal EU report on its trade agreement with Israel, seen by Euractiv last month, the bloc found “indications of violations” of human rights obligations.

In response, the European External Action Service (EEAS) is drafting a document outlining possible measures. EU ambassadors are expected to review it on July 10.

In 2024 the International Criminal Court called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza War.

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Treasury Sanctions 3 Mexican Financial Institutions For Aiding Cartels In Fentanyl Trade; Sheinbaum Denies

Mexican President Sheinbaum has commented on the sanctions, denying any fraud and claiming the Mexican banking system is ‘sound’:

  • *SHEINBAUM: NO EVIDENCE OF MONEY LAUNDERING IN MEXICAN BANKS
  • *SHEINBAUM SAYS MEXICO ONLY FOUND ADMINISTRATIVE FLAWS IN BANKS
  • *SHEINBAUM: MEXICO ASKED US TREASURY MONEY LAUNDERING EVIDENCE
  • *SHEINBAUM: MEXICAN FINANCIAL SYSTEM SOUND, ACCUSED FIRMS SMALL
  • *MEXICO TRANSFERS TO CHINA COS ‘NOT MONEY LAUNDERING’: SHEINBAUM

Just a coincidence?

As Naveen Athrappully detailed earlier via The Epoch Times, The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sanctioned three financial institutions based in Mexico for allegedly laundering money for cartels involved in the illegal trade of fentanyl, the Treasury said in a June 25 statement. The institutions are CIBanco S.A., Intercam Banco S.A., and Vector Casa de Bolsa S.A. de C.V.

CIBanco and Intercam are commercial banks with assets worth more than $7 billion and $4 billion, respectively. Vector is a brokerage company managing almost $11 billion in assets.

FinCEN has determined that the entities launder money in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and have “collectively played a longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl,” the statement said.

CIBanco facilitated illicit opioid trafficking by Mexican cartels such as Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Beltran-Leyva Cartel, and Gulf Cartel. Intercam was linked to CJNG, and Vector with the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, said the statement.

FinCEN said that between 2021 and 2024, CIBanco processed more than $2.1 million in payments from Mexico-based companies to entities in China that shipped precursor chemicals to Mexico. Intercam processed over $1.5 million during the same period.

As for Vector, the institution processed more than $1 million between 2018 and 2023.

The sanctions prohibit financial institutions in the United States from engaging in the transmission of funds from or to CIBanco, Intercam, or Vector. The prohibition also applies to any account or convertible virtual currency address administered by the three institutions.

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Starve the people, miss the point: The cruel logic of sanctions

Sanctions have become a preferred instrument in international diplomacy applied either to avoid war or when war is politically unpalatable. In theory, sanctions are meant to pressure countries into changing their political course or forcing them into compliance with demands, usually by Western powers, over certain issues of dispute. According to a 2023 UN report, the US, UK, EU and Canada are “prolific” users of sanctions, including banking sanctions that affect the entire population of a targeted country.

Yet sanctions – especially those aimed at entire economies – have repeatedly failed to force political change. Instead, they often cause devastating consequences for civilians while leaving political elites unscathed. They simply morph into a collective punishment against an entire population.

History is replete with examples when sanctions have punished populations far more than they have pressured governments. From Afghanistan and Iraq to Libya, Iran and North Korea, sanctions raise a fundamental question: how does the UN, a body founded to promote peace and human dignity, justify the use of tools that so often inflict collective suffering? The preamble to the UN Charter says the UN is “to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.” At the same time, Article 41 of the same document gives the UN Security Council (UNSC) full power to impose sanctions including the “interruption” of communications such as the postal service.

Zealous supporters of sanctions, quite deceptively, came up with a term to minimize their devastating human cost. They describe them as “smart” or “targeted,” meaning they only target the political class and elites while minimally affecting the wider population. However, this is not the case in reality. Sanctions, both smart and otherwise, include assets freeze, travel bans, economic boycotts, diplomatic isolations and threats with penalizing measures.

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Iran Offers More Nuclear Transparency In Exchange For Lifting Sanctions

Iran says that ready to make its nuclear program more transparent at a moment it is preparing to send representatives for a third round of talks with the United States, set for April 26.

Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tuesday that Tehran in return for this greater transparency wants US-led sanctions lifted.

“We will try to create more transparency and more trust [in the nuclear program] in exchange for lifting sanctions. In other words, in exchange for lifting sanctions — I emphasize, in a way that is effective and has a [positive] effect on people’s lives — Iran is ready to create more trust in its nuclear program and more transparency,” Mohajerani told reporters.

Mohajerani made clear that Tehran is ready to reach “good agreement” with the United States on nuclear issue. “We are confident that reaching a good agreement in a short time while respecting our national interests is realistic,” she said, calling the prior two rounds “good” amid a “constructive” atmosphere.

The day prior to these optimistic remarks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned that Israel was seeking to “undermine” the ongoing nuclear talks with Washington, amid reports in Israeli media that leaders are mulling a ‘limited’ attack on the Islamic Republic.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that a “kind of coalition is forming… to undermine and disrupt the diplomatic process” and that the “Zionist regime is at the center of this effort.”

Alluding to reports from last week of an internal US administration split on Iran, Baghaei further warned that hawks in the US are also involved in the effort to sabotage the talks. “Alongside it are a series of warmongering currents in the United States and figures from different factions,” he said.

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Trump extends Russia sanctions for 12 months

President Donald Trump has prolonged US sanctions on Russia for another year, based on the supposition that Moscow still poses a serious threat to the country’s national security.

Washington placed punitive restrictions on Russia after it absorbed Crimea following a referendum held in 2014, and later over Moscow’s alleged meddling in American elections. The sanctions were drastically expanded following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

The latest extension approved by Trump and dated April 10, 2025, has been posted to the Federal Register’s website, announcing the “Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.”

It refers primarily to Executive Order 14024 signed by former President Joe Biden in April 2021 in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the United States” presumed to be posed by Russia.

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Trump threatens tariffs and sanctions on Mexico for ‘stealing’ water from Texas farmers

President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs, and possibly sanctions against Mexico, if it continues to rob South Texas farmers of Rio Grande water promised under a decades-old treaty.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump proclaimed that Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, though Mexico was violating their obligation.

“This is very unfair, and it is hurting South Texas Farmers very badly,” the president wrote. “Last year, the only Sugar Mill in Texas CLOSED, because Mexico has been stealing the water from Texas Farmers. Ted Cruz has been leading the fight to get South Texas the water it is owed, but Sleepy Joe refused to lift a finger to help the Farmers. THAT ENDS NOW!”

Trump continued, saying he will make sure Mexico does not violate treaties with the U.S. and hurt farmers in Texas.

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