US-Led Sanctions Regime Collapses as Global Coalition Dissolves

Reza Assadi argues that the US-led sanctions regime against Iran, Russia, and other nations has effectively collapsed due to structural and moral shifts. The coalition that once enforced secondary sanctions—threatening exclusion from the dollar system and US market—has dissolved as China became the primary trading partner for over 120 countries and developed alternative payment systems like CIPS, which processed $24 trillion in 2024. The yuan and ruble now dominate Russia-China trade, with 99.1% settled in those currencies by late 2025. Iran, a BRICS member since January 2024, has integrated into Eurasian economic frameworks, enabling trade without dollar access. A December 2025 Foundation for Defense of Democracies report admitted that Trump's maximum pressure campaign failed to reduce Iran's oil exports in 2025. The moral rupture from Gaza, Lebanon, and the Iran war made silence costly for bystanders, while structural alternatives made defiance cheap. Assadi concludes that secondary sanctions no longer function because China is now the alternative, not a third party to be threatened.