The State Department indicated Monday that “technical issues” might be the only thing standing in the way of imposing sanctions against Iran over that country’s testing of ballistic missiles.
The Obama administration has been criticized by Republicans in particular for its sudden decision not to sanction Iran over its latest test, which violated a United Nations resolution. That decision was described last week as a “delay,” and on Monday, the White House refused to explain why the sanctions were being delayed.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said only that penalties against Iran would be imposed “at a time and place of our choosing, when our experts believe that they will have maximum impact.”
Later in the day, State Department spokesman John Kirby implied that the administration wasn’t waiting for the perfect time, and that instead, the sanctions were being held up for another reason.
“There are sanctions under consideration, there’s still some technical issues that need to be worked out,” he said.
Kirby also assured reporters that the U.S. is not done sanctioning Iran just because both sides reached a nuclear agreement last year.
“We have in the past dealt with their ballistic missile activity through sanctions, and I would fully expect that you will see us continue to hold them accountable for violations of… the U.N. Security Council resolutions with respect to their ballistic missile program,” he said.
