This week, members of the US Congress announced plans to introduce new anti-Iranian draft sanction laws, ostensibly to punish Tehran for daring to not leave the Israeli attack on its diplomatic mission in Syria unanswered.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has already announced that her department “will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority” against Iran, while White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan declared that the US anticipates that its “allies and partners” will follow suit and impose “their own” anti-Iranian sanctions.
The Biden administration, however, currently seems intent on avoiding an escalation in the Persian Gulf region, said financial and geopolitical analyst Tom Luongo.
“No one wants what happens if Israel and Iran go to full-on war. The US is more than capable of making Iran pay dearly for shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, but that is something the Pentagon does not want to have to deal with,” he told Sputnik.
Having noted that “oil prices are currently not pricing in escalation, they seem to take the position that this conflict will settle down from here,” Luongo warned that that may be a “dangerous mistake” due to the precarious position the Israeli leadership finds itself in today.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no way forward politically but to continue his aggressive stance, otherwise his career, at a minimum, is over,” he explained.
While US President Joe Biden is trying to “pressure Israel to back down,” he also has to contend with the Israeli lobby in the US Congress that wants a war with Iran and “can put Biden in a real bind if they pass new [anti-Iranian] sanctions legislation for him to sign,” Luongo remarked.
“So, to remain in power I fully expect Biden to apply as much pressure as possible to get through the election while I expect Netanyahu to get the war with Iran he’s wanted his entire life,” the analyst surmised.
He also pointed out that China “has a massive investment in Iran as it is the terminal point for their Belt and Road Initiative,” and wants to protect its investment.
“They will support Iran financially, if need be, but it will be the Russians who give Iran both the military and diplomatic support it needs to get through this as long as the Iranians don’t look like the aggressor at any stage of the conflict,” Luongo said, noting that Beijing is unlikely to “intervene overtly” in the region.