Earlier this month, an Iranian nuclear scientist was mysteriously killed after a magnetic bomb was attached to his vehicle in Tehran. The victim, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, was employed by the Iranian government as the deputy director of one of their main uranium enrichment plants. Predictably, the Iranian government quickly blamed the CIA and Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, for the attack.

While neither country has claimed responsibility for the attack, I believe it would be incorrect to say that this kind of event is unprecedented within the context of the issue. Israel, the United States and Iran have, in fact, been in a kind of “Cold War” for several years. Over the last decade, Iran has provided funding and weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah to wage a proxy war against Israel on their behalf. And last year, a computer virus called Stuxnet destroyed some of Iran’s nuclear facilities. A New York Times investigation later found the virus to be an American-Israeli joint endeavor.

But just in the past few months, the frequency and seriousness of such actions on both sides has risen significantly.

The recently heightened tensions can be traced back to the release of a report from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency in November, which shed new light on Iran’s secretive nuclear program and sparked renewed concern within the international community. The document revealed that, while Iran asserts its nuclear activity is peaceful, the country has taken actions that are indicative of the development of nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic has, according to the IAEA, developed computer models of nuclear explosions, conducted experiments on nuclear triggers and constructed a containment facility that could be used to test such weapons.

Despite these developments and the troublesome prospect of another war, it is still very much avoidable. Economic sanctions on the Iranian government have proven to be effective in trying to coax the country’s leaders away from becoming a nuclear power. To that end, leaders on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. took immediate action. In a rare 100-to-0 vote, the Senate voted to sanction Iran’s central bank, and the new rules were signed into law by President Barack Obama shortly thereafter.

Those who are either pessimistic about our chances of avoiding war, or believe going to war with Iran is the only solution left, should take another hard look at how much the Iranian government fears these efforts. After the most recent round of sanctions became law, Iran threatened to close off the highly important Strait of Hormuz in retaliation — which is used to transport a third of the world’s oil.

Additionally, the Iranians have expressed public concern about the damage inflicted upon their economy by these initiatives, with one state official claiming that “we cannot pretend the sanctions are not having an effect,” according to the Times.

From these reactions and public statements, it is clear that these sanctions have been effective, and it presents us with even greater reason to strengthen them further.

These new American sanctions have also encouraged Europe to take similar action, further increasing pressure on the Iranians. This week, the EU is expected to meet in Brussels to follow the U.S. in sanctioning Iran’s central bank, in addition to implementing a complete oil embargo of the country, according to an AFP report.

Another war is fully avoidable, and the U.S., Europe and Israel are taking appropriate and responsible action to address Iran’s dangerous nuclear aspirations.