U.S. Treasury Department sanctions Iranian central bank governor: Being listed as a terrorist, do you think the United States has such power?

Power is given by law, and the power lacking legitimacy is only the most primitive violent coercion. Therefore, the key to discussing the U.S. Treasury's sanctions against Iran's central bank governor is not whether the United States has the power, but whether such sanctions are legal.

1. From the domestic law, it is legal for the United States to sanction Iranian officials.

Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran 1979, the relationship between the United States and Iran has deteriorated, and the United States has promulgated a series of laws to sanction Iran. Among them is the D'Amato Law promulgated by 1996. This law mainly imposes sanctions on Iran's nuclear weapons and support for terrorism. In 2006, the D'Amato Law was replaced by the Iranian Freedom Support Law, which is still in force. Therefore, if the United States believes that Iranian citizens are involved in terrorism, even if this person is a senior official like the central bank governor, it is entirely possible to be sanctioned by the United States.

2. From the perspective of international law, it is controversial for the United States to sanction Iranian officials.

The reasons used by the United States to defend sanctions are controversial and inconclusive in international law. The reason of the United States is mainly "obligation to the world", which refers to the obligation of a country to all people in the international community. In the eyes of the United States, the governor of Iran's central bank supports terrorism, and the Iranian government should sanction this person. This is the obligation of the Iranian government to the international community. However, since the Iranian government has not sanctioned him, the United States will impose sanctions on his behalf. From this logical point of view, if the US information about the terrorism of the Iranian central bank governor is true, there is no problem with the US sanctions.

On the other hand, the United Nations General Assembly has issued many resolutions against unilateral sanctions, such as "Eliminating coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion", "Using unilateral economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries" and "Human rights and unilateral coercive measures". From this perspective, the sanctions unilaterally imposed by the United States have no legitimacy.

To sum up, it can be considered that the international law basis for the United States to sanction the governor of Iran's central bank is not solid, so from a legal point of view, the United States has no right to do so. On the other hand, with sufficient domestic laws to support it, and the United States has the most powerful strength in the world, it actually has the ability to do so. If the United States does this, the international community will be helpless.