"The U.S. ran near-identical sanctions playbooks against Iran…" — Yesun Yoon (#c1392)

Card #c1392IR // #c1392SynthesisMilitary report

The U.S. ran near-identical sanctions playbooks against Iran and North Korea — comprehensive trade embargoes plus 'smart' sanctions targeting elites and illicit finance — but only Iran's worked: the 2012 Central Bank sanctions hit Iran's oil exports with precise economic pain and helped produce the desired outcome, while the 2005 Patriot Act freeze of North Korean regime-elite accounts was simply defied.

— In our words · Source: Assessment of the Effectiveness of Economic Sanctions: The Cases of Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, and Cuba (Yesun Yoon)

[Use when]

Pressure needs a surface to press on — sanctions work on economies plugged into global finance and fail on ones that are not.

[Why it matters]

Sanctions are not one tool — 'smart' financial sanctions only bite where the target's money actually touches the system; against a fully isolated regime there is nothing to freeze.