"'Something that's really interesting is how much has not changed,' said Elizabeth Rosenberg, director of the energy program at the Center for a New American Security and a former senior sanctions adviser at the Department of the Treasury. 'In a collapsed oil market there's every additional opportunity for sanctions hawks to layer it on. In fact, it's in the interest of U.S. producers who are grasping for a lifeline...' "'I would like to think that the basis for sanctions is a [...]

“'While Iran is an epicenter of this virus outbreak and facing true economic catastrophe... there will be no relief on sanctions,' said Elizabeth Rosenberg of the Center for a New American Security think tank..." Read the full article here: Full Article

"At this point, it’s probably not enough for the U.S. to say that companies are allowed to sell drugs and medical equipment to Iran to help battle the coronavirus—they’re already technically allowed to sell those things. But that doesn’t mean the U.S. can just sit back. 'There are small and large steps the United States can take to try to speed aid to Iran,' says Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former Treasury Department official who is now a senior fellow at the Center [...]

"'The pressure of economic sanctions does show up in the difficulty that, say, Iran has in getting access to medicine and medical devices.' "Elizabeth Rosenberg is a former senior Treasury official now at the Center for a New American Security. She says international banks and companies worry they'll be blacklisted by the Trump administration if they do business with Iran. In theory, the U.S. sanctions do allow for items, such as food and medical supplies, to be sold to Iran. But [...]

"Elizabeth Rosenberg, who served as a senior Treasury adviser working on sanctions issues during the Obama administration and who now studies sanctions policy at the Center for a New American Security, said Mr. Trump’s interventions were unusual and disruptive. “'This is not the norm in Washington,' she said. 'He is making up sanctions policy on his own, and influencing the course of policy in a way that undermines United States priorities and has shocked United States allies...'" Read the full article [...]

"The EU’s decision would be important particularly amid diverging policies between Europe and the U.S., said Elizabeth Rosenberg, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. The U.S. and EU previously coordinated sanctions lists and worked together to reach the 2015 nuclear deal. However, their sanctions strategies are no longer in alignment since President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear pact in 2018. “'It’s different this time,' said Ms. Rosenberg, who previously advised on Iran sanctions [...]

"For now, the Islamic Republic may be able to contain the unrest. 'The violence is not necessarily a precursor to more massive political violence in Iran; nor is it the desperate and bloody response of a regime verging on collapse,' Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former treasury specialist now at the Center for a New American Security, told me. Despite Iran’s struggles under powerful sanctions, 'it would be folly to underestimate the staying power of Iran’s regime élites who are experts at repressive [...]