Prisoner Release

Posted: January 20th, 2016

By Matthew Levitt

Dr. Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler fellow and director of the Reinhard program on counterterrorism and intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. An adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s security studies program, Levitt previously served as Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis. Twenty years ago, Levitt led the FBI analytical team for flight UA175 as part of the PENTTBOM investigation. Levitt is the author of Rethinking U.S. Efforts on Counterterrorism: Toward a Sustainable Plan Two Decades After 9/11, part of The Washington Institute’s Transition 2021 series. Find him on Twitter: @Matt_Levitt

Speaking from the White House on the day after the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, President Obama proudly declared “Today is a good day” demonstrating what is possible with “strong American diplomacy.” History will determine whether the Iran deal proves to be the success its proponents already claim it is. One key factor to the deal’s success or failure will be whether the United States holds Iran accountable—through the imposition of sanctions and other tools—for its ongoing illicit conduct, such its as support for terrorism, human rights abuses, and ballistic missile production.

Just a few weeks before Iran tested its Emad ballistic missile in October, the Treasury Department’s Acting Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Adam Szubin, stressed that the “whole range of sanctions targeting Iran’s support for terrorism, destabilizing regional activities, missile proliferation, and human rights abuses will remain in place.” However, the U.S. delayed imposing sanctions on the October missile test until just this week.

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