Sanctions News

The Daily Signal provides comprehensive sanctions news with reporting and conservative analysis on economic warfare strategies, Russian sanctions effectiveness, Iranian regime pressure, Chinese trade restrictions, and the debate over sanctions as foreign policy tools versus military intervention.
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    • News

    What’s the Holdup on Russia Sanctions?

    South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill to place sanctions on Russia seems like it would have no difficulty at all passing the Senate—but it has languished for months without action. The inaction is not due to a lack of support, since Graham’s Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 has 84 co-sponsors in the Senate, making…
    George Caldwell
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    • News

    Congress Mulls Lifting Sanctions on Syrian Leader

    Congress is weighing whether to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist seeking to legitimize himself on the world stage. Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., is making clear he’s not eager to lift those sanctions on the newly minted leader, given the killings and clashes involving ethnic minorities that have occurred during his…
    George Caldwell
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    • News

    Rubio Hits UN Human Rights Council Rapporteur With Sanctions

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced sanctions on United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.   Rubio cited “her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” in the announcement of the sanctions.   The position of special rapporteur is appointed by the U.N….
    Virginia Allen
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    • News

    Trump Admin Sanctions Mexican Cartel Members

    The Trump administration is targeting two high-level Mexican cartel members with sanctions, the Treasury Department announced Wednesday, in a move angel mom Anne Fundner calls a “very strong message.”  “These criminal organizations are, let’s make no mistake about it, they are foreign terrorist organizations,” Fundner says of the criminal drug cartels. “They’re involved in human trafficking, arms trafficking, [and]…
    Virginia Allen
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    • News

    Trump’s Lifting of Sanctions on Syria Wins Cautious Approval

    The Trump administration made a bold announcement this week, declaring it would lift sanctions on Syria, earning bipartisan praise in doing so. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” the president said on Tuesday in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The move…
    Jacob Adams
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    • News

    US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Shipping Magnate

    President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department is sanctioning an Iranian national and his corporate network for what Treasury says is the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit petroleum products “to evade U.S. sanctions and generate revenue for Iran.” Iranian shipping magnate Seyed Asadollah Emamjomeh has worked with companies affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary…
    Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
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    • News

    Judge Smacks Down Jack Smith’s Gag Order Request, Warns of Future Sanctions for Flouting ‘Basic Requirements’

    The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case rejected on Tuesday special counsel Jack Smith’s request to impose a gag order, admonishing his team for their failure to “meaningful[ly] confer” with the defense. Trump’s attorneys aired their frustration Monday night with prosecutors’ decision to file the motion before the Memorial Day weekend without first conferring…
    Katelynn Richardson
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    • News

    EU Lawmakers Warn Sanctions Could Be Imposed on Tucker Carlson for Putin Interview

    Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson could be threatened with sanctions by the European Union over his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to current and former members of the European Parliament. Carlson traveled to Moscow and met with Putin for a yet-to-be-released interview about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and its global perception. Carlson could face…
    Jake Smith
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    • News

    Author of Trump’s Iran Sanctions Tells Biden How to Respond to Ballistic Missile Attack Against Israel

    Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a medium-range ballistic missile toward Israel Tuesday, requiring an Israeli air defense system to block it and signaling that the war Hamas started with a terrorist attack against the Jewish state may quickly expand into a regional conflict. Robert Greenway, who orchestrated former President Donald Trump’s sanctions against Iran,…
    Tyler O’Neil
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    • Opinion

    North Korea’s Support for Russian-Occupied Ukraine Would Violate UN Sanctions

    North Korea reportedly is discussing sending workers and soldiers to Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine in exchange for shipments of industrial equipment and energy supplies. Any of those actions would violate several U.N. resolutions imposed on North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile activities. In July, North Korea supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine…
    Bruce Klingner
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    • Opinion

    SWIFT Sanctions Unlikely to Threaten US Dollar

    The U.S. and key allies announced in March sanctions on a number of Russian banks using SWIFT, the inter-bank payment system relied on by nearly every bank on Earth. This led to concerns of Russia evading the sanctions by using the Chinese alternative, the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, better known by its acronym, CIPS. In…
    Peter St. Onge
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    • Opinion

    Sanctions on Putin’s Russia: An Initial Assessment

    Ongoing sanctions on Russia are taking a toll on its economy. Yet greater enforcement should follow to really cripple Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economic and financial Achilles’ heel.   Since Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, a range of targeted sanctions have been rightfully piled against Putin’s economy. Damaging to the Russian…
    Anthony B. Kim
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    • Opinion

    Russia Links Ukraine Sanctions to Iran Nuclear Talks to Shake Down Biden Administration

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dropped a diplomatic bomb on the multilateral Iran nuclear talks in a transparent gambit to undermine sanctions that the U.S. recently imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Lavrov insisted on Saturday, “We need guarantees these sanctions will in no way affect the trading, economic, and investment relations contained…
    James Phillips
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    • Opinion

    The Right Way to Impose Energy Sanctions on Russia

    In the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the idea of expanding sanctions on Russian energy is starting to gain bipartisan traction in Congress. This is a complicated issue. Although freedom-loving nations should be ready to use every tool available to push back against the authoritarian greed of Putin, energy sanctions…
    Katie Tubb
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    • Opinion

    Biden Administration Sanctions Mail-Order Abortion. Here’s How the Move Endangers Women.

    The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it will significantly weaken longstanding safety protocols that have applied to dangerous chemical abortion pills for more than 20 years, opening the door to widespread telemedicine abortion and abortion pill-by-mail distribution. The Biden administration’s decision is a response to the abortion industry’s demands at the expense of women’s…
    Melanie Israel
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    • Opinion

    As Ortega Looks to Extend Dictatorship in Nicaragua, US and Allies Must Ratchet Up Sanctions

    In 1979, socialist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega led his Sandinista National Liberation Front in overthrowing the authoritarian regime of Anastasio Somoza, whose family had held power in Nicaragua for more than four decades. Ortega has held power there now for 26 of the past 42 years, wielded significant political influence in his years out of…
    James M. Roberts
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    • News

    Treasury Department Sanctions Ukrainian Lawmaker Who Met With Giuliani

    The Trump administration announced sanctions Thursday against a Ukrainian lawmaker who met last year with President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and has pushed for a corruption investigation into the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. The Treasury Department accused Andriy Derkach of waging a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign “in an attempt to undermine the upcoming 2020…
    Chuck Ross
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    • Opinion

    Blanket Sanctions on Members of China’s Communist Party Wrong Way to Go

    Over the past 10 to 15 years, the United States has added a new tool to its foreign policy: targeted individual sanctions. Although it has made good use of broader sanctions—Iran and North Korea come to mind—the U.S. is increasingly taking action against specific violators. Given the complexity of U.S.-China relations, targeted sanctions are a…
    Walter Lohman
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    • Opinion

    Chinese Sanctions on US Officials Are Attempt to Scare the Free World

    On Monday, the Chinese Communist government slapped sanctions on members of Congress as well as a U.S. ambassador. This action is intended to send the world a message: Fear us. The free world’s response should be to man up. Beijing’s action came after recent U.S. legislation calling for sanctions on Chinese officials over their systematic abuse of the Uighurs…
    James Carafano
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    • News

    Lawmakers Seek Sanctions Against Chinese Communist Party Officials for Human Rights Abuses

    Republican lawmakers are pushing for sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials over China’s “duplicitous, ineffective, and cruel” response to the coronavirus outbreak. Republican Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana, Dan Crenshaw of Texas, and Lance Gooden of Texas sent a letter Monday to Secretaries Mike Pompeo and Steven Mnuchin asking that Magnitsky Sanctions be imposed on seven Chinese…
    Mary Margaret Olohan
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