Ex-Treasury sanctions official says Trump could squeeze Iran without war

A former top Treasury sanctions official says the Trump administration could intensify pressure on Iran through sanctions and oil restrictions instead of military strikes. The interview, released on Breaking Battlegrounds, focuses on Tehran’s shadow fleet, sanctions enforcement, and the risks of escalating conflict.

Why it matters: - Miad Maleki argues the United States can weaken Iran’s regime by tightening economic pressure rather than launching another military conflict. - The approach matters because Iran uses outside threats to justify crackdowns at home and to shift blame for economic strain. - The interview frames sanctions enforcement as a lower-risk alternative to war for the Trump administration.

What happened: - Breaking Battlegrounds released a special interview with Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former senior executive at the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. - Host Chuck Warren interviewed Maleki about U.S. options against Iran and the financial networks that support the Islamic Republic. - Maleki said, “Don’t give them that war, keep the blockade and sanctions in place.”

The details: - Maleki said he helped design and implement major U.S. sanctions campaigns, including the Trump administration’s maximum pressure strategy against Iran. - Maleki said the Islamic Republic benefits during conflict because it can use external threats to defend domestic repression and deflect from economic failures. - Maleki urged maintaining sanctions and restrictions on Iranian oil exports instead of pursuing fresh strikes or fast-track negotiations. - Maleki described Iran’s shadow fleet as aging oil tankers used to move sanctioned petroleum through deceptive shipping practices. - Maleki said some vessels operate with questionable documentation, hide their movements, and help move oil that sustains sanctioned regimes. - Maleki proposed working with vessel owners to move tankers into legitimate commercial use and pull them out of Iran’s sanctions-evasion network. - Maleki said the goal is to deny Tehran the infrastructure it uses to profit from illicit oil exports. - Before joining FDD, Maleki served as Associate Director for Treasury’s Office of Global Targeting at OFAC. - Maleki oversaw sanctions and investigations tied to terrorism, narcotics trafficking, Iran, Russia and North Korea. - Maleki said U.S. sanctions remain powerful because access to the American dollar is still a key foreign policy lever.

Between the lines: - The interview reflects a broader debate inside U.S. policy circles over whether coercive economics can achieve more than military pressure. - Maleki’s view suggests sanctions work best when enforcement is sustained and targeted at the logistics that keep illicit trade moving. - The emphasis on the shadow fleet shows how enforcement can extend beyond finance to shipping, ownership and maritime compliance.

What's next: - Breaking Battlegrounds said the full interview is available on YouTube, Substack, Rumble, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. - The show identified Maleki as a guest and pointed listeners to his X account, @miadmaleki. - Breaking Battlegrounds said the conversation is part of its ongoing coverage of national security, public policy and U.S. politics.

The bottom line: - Maleki’s case is simple: keep pressure on Iran’s economy, cut off oil-smuggling routes and avoid giving Tehran a new war to exploit.