Trump administration prepares sanctions against International Criminal Court, sources say

US officials ​want the court to drop its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders as well as a past ⁠probe into American troops in Afghanistan.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in July announced a campaign to isolate the court, calling ​on other countries to withdraw from the tribunal.

Washington has imposed sanctions on several ICC judges and ​prosecutors but has so far held off from imposing sanctions on the court itself, although the move has long been considered as one of the options.The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.Sanctions against the court have been prepared, the sources said, ​even though the exact timing of an announcement remained unclear.

The Wall Street Journal cited officials who said the ​decision could be finalised as soon as this week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting.Targeting the entire organisation directly, as well ‌as entities ⁠that cooperate with it, could severely undermine the court's work.Any entity-wide sanctions imposed by the US Treasury would prohibit US citizens and companies from providing funds, goods, or services to the court without a licence from the….

Banks often over-comply with such US sanctions because they depend on access to the American ​financial system.Among the court's operations ​that could be affected ⁠by sanctions against the entire organisation are the purchasing of IT services and insurance, the hiring of investigators and conducting everyday financial transactions, such as paying dozens of American ​employees, the ICC's registrar and president have warned.Trump's opposition to the court goes back to ​his first….

It asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself.The United States has never ​been a member.

Trump administration prepares sanctions against International Criminal Court, sources say Updated 9 minutes ago Exact timing of announcement remains unclear.