Washington Institute urges US to deepen economic pressure on Iran
A new report argues that Operation Economic Outcast requires stronger international coordination to fully isolate the Iranian regime.
By Marco Graham ·
The United States has allocated nearly $300 million to the State Department for the current fiscal year to strengthen partner capabilities, a figure that anchors a new assessment arguing for more aggressive use of these funds against Iran. The report, published this week by senior fellows at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, contends that the current economic campaign, known as Operation Economic Outcast, is not reaching its full potential. It calls for deeper coordination with international partners to cut off the economic lifelines supporting the Iranian government.
The strategy has evolved through a series of diplomatic actions over the past several months. In June, the US State Department and more than 20 other governments accused Iran of orchestrating attacks across Europe, North America, and Australia. The momentum continued in October when the US joined 29 other nations on October 12 to condemn an alleged Iranian plot to destroy US air assets at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom. This followed a declaration from the previous week in which the US and eight Western Hemisphere nations criticized Iranian terrorist activities in the region.
Michael Jacobson, the Mark and Wayne Levy Senior Fellow, and Matthew Levitt, the Fromer-Wexler Senior Fellow and director of the institute’s Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, authored the report. They noted that several governments were initially hesitant to join these condemnations due to fears of Iranian retaliation and the safety of citizens detained in Iranian prisons. However, American support helped persuade these nations to align with Washington.
The fellows criticized the US government for relying too heavily on limited diplomatic actions. They argued that closer collaboration with allies on sanctions would bolster efforts to weaken the Iranian government, particularly alongside the current blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. They pointed out that recent progress demonstrates the benefits of an international approach, even as they warned that diplomatic designations of groups like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah, and Hamas need material support to be effective.
The report outlines specific recommendations for utilizing the nearly $300 million in foreign assistance funding. It suggests directing resources toward training and equipping Syrian border security authorities to intercept smuggling operations, including bulk cash transfers, by Iran and Hezbollah. The experts also recommended helping Yemeni Coast Guard officials detect Houthi weapons networks and improving the capacity of Iraqi financial institutions to identify illicit Iranian financing schemes.
Additional initiatives proposed in the document include strengthening efforts by authorities in West Africa and South America to uncover and prosecute the illicit financial networks of Hezbollah. The authors emphasized that these steps are essential for translating diplomatic support into tangible results against the Iranian regime.
