Current U.N. and U.S. sanctions against Iran have reduced Iran’s economic contact with other nations, weakening the Iranian economy and ordinary Iranians’ standard of living. Broad-based sanctions certainly have amplified the regime’s unpopularity, with economic deprivation fueling public protests. The widespread dissent may, in the long run, bring regime change.  But the current sanctions have not curbed the regime’s internal oppression and international adventurism, including its nuclear program and support of terrorism. This failure has occurred because broad economic sanctions have not directly curtailed the lavish lifestyles of those in power.

Targeted sanctions against individuals and organizations have precedent at the U.N. and in the U.S. Targeting of assets, communications and mobility was deployed successfully against the leadership of al-Qaida in the wake of 9/11. Similar sanctions against political elites have been used in the cases of Serbia, Liberia and Sudan. The threat of such sanctions has proved effective against the Philippines and other nations suspected of money laundering. Such smart sanctions have been proposed by Iran experts as the best way of directly pressuring those in power there. The U.S. administration finally seems to be catching on.

There is yet another mechanism that has held despotic leaders accountable to the world community: international and country-specific criminal indictments for human rights abuse, money laundering and abetting terrorism. Legal actions would add considerably to the arsenal of tools available to the West for restraining Iran’s antagonistic leaders.

If Iran’s leaders fear arrest and trial in U.N. or foreign custody, they will severely curtail their international travels. As their face-to-face contacts with other national leaders decline, so will their influence upon troublesome Third World nations like Syria and Venezuela. Moreover, officially listing specific Iranian leaders as fugitives will diminish their legitimacy within and outside Iran.

For years Iran’s people have been saying that their leaders should be held accountable. They urge the West to freeze the political and religious elites’ assets in foreign banks, cut-off IRGC-owned companies from the global economy, and restrict the despots’ freedom to travel outside Iran. Iranians at home and abroad suggest knowingly that Iran’s leaders will begin to conform to global expectations if internationally-administered justice awaits them.

If Iran’s global menace and domestic violence are to be curbed, then the U.S. and the world will have take on the Iranian leaders directly. Targeting is one key to success; enforcement on economic and legal fronts is the other.