U.S. Cabinet officials are emphasizing the need for sanctions against Iran, in between assuring policy-makers that the American and global economies are able to absorb the effects of new economic measures against the Islamic republic. 

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke at a conference in Aspen, Colo. on the choice between sanctions and… the alternatives:

Lew — whose Treasury Department is tasked with enforcing the sanctions — was speaking Sunday at a conference in Aspen, Colorado. “It would be the best thing for Iran and the best thing for the world if economic sanctions worked because the alternatives are worse for Iran and for the world,” Lew said…

“The goal is not to hurt the Iranian people. The goal is to change their decision,” the Obama administration official said. “They just had an election and we are going to need to see whether this has consequences,” he added, noting that such changes would “require decisions that are made at their highest level.”

Lew’s final reference to Iran’s highest level is a reference to Iran’s political system, in which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – and not the Iranian president – wields control over the country’s foreign policy.

Meanwhile Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz explained in an interview in Vienna that Iran has lost its position as a “dominant player in the [global oil] market,” and that growing output from the U.S. and Iraq could offset the loss of Iranian crude envisioned by bipartisan U.S. lawmakers advocating further sanctions:

But U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said growing U.S. and Iraqi oil output meant Iran was not now a “dominant player in the market” and that there was “quite a bit of potential for increased production to offset any further reduction”. There is also substantial reserve capacity in major OPEC producers such as Saudi Arabia, he said. “So I would think that with further sanctions, the markets could be quite resilient to that,” said Moniz, who took office last month.

Last week veteran U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross, evaluating the Iranian regime’s calculations in permitting Rouhani to run and win the presidential election, concluded that the Supreme Leader’s control means that “it is far too early to consider backing off sanctions.”

[Photo: PBSNewsHour / Youtube]