An antidote, however, may rest with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international organization responsible for setting global anti-money-laundering rules and combatting terrorist financing. By updating its approach to international sanctions implementation, the FATF could play a valuable role in countering the spread of nuclear weapons.

Once praised as instruments of coercive diplomacy, United Nations Security Council sanctions have become toothless and ineffective. The Security Council is compromised by structural dysfunction that allows states to sabotage and evade its sanctions, thereby hastening the decay of international norms on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Once praised as instruments of coercive diplomacy, United Nations Security Council sanctions have become toothless and ineffective. The Security Council is compromised by structural dysfunction that allows states to sabotage and evade its sanctions, thereby hastening the decay of international norms on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

An antidote, however, may rest with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international organization responsible for setting global anti-money-laundering rules and combatting terrorist financing. By updating its approach to international sanctions implementation, the FATF could play a valuable role in countering the spread of nuclear weapons.

In August, France, Germany, and the U.K.—known as the E3—formally initiated the “snapback” mechanism of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signaling their intent to reinstate U.N. sanctions on Iran, which had been lifted since 2015. According to the E3, Iran had exceeded enriched uranium limits and restricted the International At