United States sanctions against Iran

The United States applies economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. U.S. economic sanctions are administered by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. Currently, the U.S. sanctions against Iran include an embargo on dealings with the country by the U.S., and a ban on selling aircraft and repair parts to Iranian aviation companies.[1]

The US imposed sanction of 1995 bans aviation companies from selling aircraft and repair parts to Iranian airlines. Iranian commercial airplanes were also banned from entering U.S. airspace due to sanctions.

The United States has imposed sanctions against Iran in response to the Iranian nuclear program and Iranian support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad, that are considered terrorist organizations by the US. Iranian support for the Shi’ite militias in Iraq and the Houthis in the Yemen civil war are also in contention.

US sanctions can be imposed under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) of 1976, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 and the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 (ILSA, later renamed to Iran Sanctions Act (ISA)). Declarations under NEA and IEEPA must be renewed annually to remain in effect. Another sanctions law is the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017.

On 17 May 2018 the European Commission announced its intention to implement the blocking statute of 1996 to declare the US sanctions against Iran null and void in Europe and ban European citizens and companies from complying with them. The Commission also instructed the European Investment Bank to facilitate European companies' investment in Iran.[2][3][4]

US embassy siege

The first United States sanctions against Iran were imposed by President Carter in November 1979 by Executive Order 12170 after a group of radical students seized the American Embassy in Tehran taking hostage the people inside after the U.S. permitted the exiled Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment.[5] The Executive Order froze about $12 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits, gold and other properties. These sanctions were lifted in January 1981 as part of the Algiers Accords, which was a negotiated settlement of the hostages’ release. The Order was required to be renewed annually, which was done until November 2014, and lapsed in November 2015. Some assets—Iranian officials say $10 billion, U.S. officials say much less—still remain frozen pending resolution of legal claims arising from the revolution.

Iran–Iraq War

Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, starting the Iran–Iraq War, which lasted to 1988. In 1984, the US imposed an arms embargo on both Iran and Iraq and ceased all US assistance.

Rafsanjani government

Some of the toughest sanctions against Iran were imposed during the presidency of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in response to the Iranian nuclear program and Iranian support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad, that are considered terrorist organizations by the US. President Clinton in March 1995 issued Executive Order 12957 to prohibit US trade in Iran's oil industry, and in May 1995 issued Executive Order 12959 to prohibit all US trade with Iran. Trade with the United States, which had been growing since the end of the Iran–Iraq War, ended abruptly.

Iran and Libya Sanctions Act
Main article: Iran and Libya Sanctions Act
See also: Blocking statute

The Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was signed on 5 August 1996.[6] ILSA was renamed in 2006 the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) when the sanctions against Libya were terminated.[6] ISA was extended for a further ten years on December 1, 2016.[7]

ISA targets both U.S. and non-U.S. businesses that make investments over $20 million in Iran for the development of petroleum resources in Iran. They face having imposed against them two out of seven possible penalties by the U.S.:[8]

  • denial of Export-Import Bank assistance,
  • denial of export licenses for exports to the violating company,
  • prohibition on loans or credits from U.S. financial institutions of over $10 million in any 12-month period,
  • prohibition on designation as a primary dealer for U.S. government debt instruments,
  • prohibition on serving as an agent of the United States or as a repository for U.S. government funds,
  • denial of U.S. government procurement opportunities (consistent with WTO obligations), and
  • a ban on all or some imports of the violating company.

Khatami government

After the election of Iranian reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 1997, President Clinton eased sanctions on Iran. In 2000 the sanctions for some items like pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, caviar and Persian rugs were reduced.

In February 2004, during the final year of Khatami's presidency, the U.S. Department of the Treasury ruled against editing or publishing scientific manuscripts from Iran, and stated that U.S. scientists collaborating with Iranians could be prosecuted. In response, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) temporarily stopped editing manuscripts from Iranian researchers and took steps to clarify the OFAC guidelines concerning its publishing and editing activities. In April 2004 IEEE received a response from OFAC which fully resolved that no licenses were needed for publishing works from Iran and that the entire IEEE publication process including peer review and editing was exempt from restrictions.[9] On the other hand, the American Institute of Physics (AIP), the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which publishes Science, refused to comply, saying that the prohibition on publishing goes against freedom of speech.[10]

Ahmadinejad government
In December 2008 the U.S. government sought 40 percent interest in 650 Fifth Avenue on the edge of Rockefeller Center which it said was co-owned by Bank Melli.[11]

After being elected president in 2005, President Ahmadinejad lifted the suspension of uranium enrichment that had been agreed with the EU3, and the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran's non-compliance with its safeguards agreement to the UN Security Council. The U.S. government then began pushing for UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.[12]

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 1737 in December 2006, Resolution 1747 in March 2007, Resolution 1803 in March 2008, and Resolution 1929 in June 2010.

In June 2005, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13382 freezing the assets of individuals connected with Iran's nuclear program.[13] In June 2007, the U.S. state of Florida enacted a boycott on companies trading with Iran and Sudan, while New Jersey's state legislature was considering similar action.[14]

On June 24, 2010, the United States Senate and House of Representatives passed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA), which President Obama signed into law July 1, 2010. The CISADA greatly enhanced restrictions in Iran. Such restrictions included the rescission of the authorization for Iranian-origin imports for articles such as rugs, pistachios, and caviar. In response, President Obama issued Executive Order 13553 in September 2010 and Executive Order 13574 in May 2011, and Executive Order 13590 in November 2011.

On 31 July 2013, members of the United States House of Representatives voted 400 to 20 in favor of toughened sanctions.[15]

Banking

Iranian financial institutions are barred from directly accessing the U.S. financial system, but they are permitted to do so indirectly through banks in other countries. In September 2006, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Bank Saderat Iran, barring it from dealing with U.S. financial institutions, even indirectly. The move was announced by Stuart Levey, the undersecretary for treasury, who accused the major state-owned bank in Iran of transferring funds for certain groups, including Hezbollah. Levey said that since 2001 a Hezbollah-controlled organization had received 50 million U.S. dollars directly from Iran through Bank Saderat. He said the U.S. government will also persuade European banks and financial institutions not to deal with Iran.[16] As of November 2007, the following Iranian banks were prohibited from transferring money to or from United States banks:[17]

In other words, these banks were placed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List). The SDN List is a directory of entities and individuals who have been prohibited from accessing the U.S. financial system. Although difficult there are ways to carry out an OFAC SDN List removal.[18]

As of early 2008, the targeted banks, such as Bank Mellat, had been able to replace banking relationships with a few large sanction-compliant banks with relationships with a larger number of smaller non-compliant banks.[19] The total assets frozen in Britain under the EU (European Union) and UN sanctions against Iran are approximately £976,110,000 ($1.64 billion).[20] In 2008, the US Treasury ordered Citigroup Inc. to freeze over $2 billion held for Iran in Citigroup accounts.[21][22]

For individuals and small businesses, these banking restrictions have created a large opportunity for the hawala market, which allows Iranians to transfer money to and from foreign countries using an underground unregulated exchange system.[23] In June 2010, in the case United States v. Banki, the use of the hawala method of currency transfer led to a criminal conviction against a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin. Banki was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison; however, on the sentencing guidelines, this type of offense could result in imprisonment of up to 20 years.[24]

The United States imposed additional financial sanctions against Iran, effective 1 July 2013. An administration official explained that according to the new Executive Order "significant transactions in the rial will expose anyone to sanctions," and predicted “it should cause banks and exchanges to dump their rial holdings.”[25] This took place as Iran's president-elect Hassan Rouhani was scheduled to take office from August 3, 2013.[26]

Hassan Rouhani government

On 3 August 2013, Hassan Rouhani was elected as Iran's next president.[26]

Sanctions against third parties

In 2014, American authorities put a $5 million bounty on Chinese businessman Li Fangwei, whom they alleged to have been instrumental in evading sanctions against Iran's missile programs.[27]

In 2014, French bank BNP Paribas agreed to pay an $8.9 billion fine, the largest ever for violating U.S. sanctions at that time. Germany's Commerzbank, France's Credit Agricole and Swiss UBS have also been fined.[28] French President François Hollande said: "When the (European) Commission goes after Google or digital giants which do not pay the taxes they should in Europe, America takes offence. And yet, they quite shamelessly demand 8 billion from BNP or 5 billion from Deutsche Bank."[29]

In 2015, Germany's largest bank Deutsche Bank was fined $258 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Libya and Syria.[30]

In April 2018, the U.S. Justice Department joined the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, and the Department of Commerce to investigate possible violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran by China's Huawei. The U.S. inquiry stems from an earlier sanctions-violation probe that ultimately led to penalties against another Chinese technology company, ZTE Corporation.[31] Huawei's deputy chair and CFO Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the company's founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on December 1, 2018 based on an extradition request by U.S. authorities.[32]

In May 2019, the US warned Banks, Investors, Traders, and Companies of the UK which trade with Iran through the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (Instex) special purpose vehicle, that they will be punished somehow by Washington.[33][34]

Post-JCPOA sanctions
See also: Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act

The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was enacted in August 2017 and imposed sanctions against Iran, as well as against Russia and North Korea.[35][36] CAATSA requires the President to impose sanctions against: (1) Iran's ballistic missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, (2) the sale or transfer to Iran of military equipment or the provision of related technical or financial assistance, and (3) Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated foreign persons.[37] The President may also impose sanctions against persons responsible for violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals in Iran,[37] and can waive the imposition or continuation of sanctions.[37][38][39]

In May 2018, the U.S. announced an intention to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or Iran nuclear deal), and subsequently imposed several new non-nuclear sanctions against Iran, some of which were condemned by Iran as a violation of the deal.

These treasury and other arms of the government, both under Obama and Trump, have basically weakened the JCPOA extensively, which has kept a lot of the sanctions regime intact.[40] In August 2018 the Trump administration reimposed the sanctions and warned that anyone doing business with Iran will not be able to do business with the United States.[41][42] However, the US will be granting waivers to certain countries. For example, Iraq was granted a waiver that would allow the country to continue purchasing gas, energy and food products from Iran on the condition that the purchases were not paid for in US dollars.[43]

In 2018, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) "ordered" the United States to stop the sanctions. The decision was unanimous, and was based on the 1955 U.S.-Iran "Friendship Treaty" that was signed with the government overthrown by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.[44] In response, United States withdrew from two international agreements.[45]

In October 2018, Reuters reported that American J.P. Morgan Chase Bank "agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle allegations it violated Cuban Assets Control Regulations, Iranian sanctions and Weapons of Mass Destruction sanctions 87 times, the U.S. Treasury said".[46]

British bank Standard Chartered faces $1.5 billion fine by U.S. agencies for violating Iran sanctions.[47]

In November 2018, the United States officially reinstated all sanctions against Iran that were previously lifted before the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA.[48][49]

In April 2019 the U.S. threatened to sanction countries continuing to buy oil from Iran after an initial six-month waiver announced in November expired.[50]

In June 2019, Trump imposed the sanctions on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his office and those closely affiliated with his access to key financial resources.[51][52]

On 31 July 2019, The United States placed sanctions on Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.[53]

In August 2018, Total S.A. officially withdrew from the Iranian South Pars gas field because of sanctions pressure from the US,[54] leaving CNPC to take up their 50.1% stake in the natural gas field, of which it had already 30%.[55] It held this 80.1% share until it withdrew its investment in October 2019 due once again to the US sanctions regime, according to Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh and the SHANA news agency.[55]

On 19 May 2020, the U.S. sanctions targeted Shanghai Saint Logistics Limited, a PRC-based company that provides general sales agent services for Mahan Air. The United States has claimed that Iran used of Mahan Air for carrying gold of fuel sales of Venezuela.[56] Also, Iran denied the allegation.[57]

On 8 June 2020, U.S. imposed new sanctions of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its Shanghai-based subsidiary, E-Sail Shipping Company Ltd (E-Sail).[58]

The individuals and companies have been added to US sanctions list in 2018:[59]

  • Bahadori, Masoud
  • Bateni, Naser
  • Bazargan, Farzad
  • Behzad, Morteza Ahmadali
  • Cambis, Dimitris
  • Chaghazardy, Mohammad Kazem
  • Dajmar, Mohammad Hossein
  • Eslami, Mansour
  • Ghalebani, Ahmad
  • Jashnsaz, Seifollah
  • Khalili, Jamshid
  • Khosrowtaj, Mojtaba
  • Mohaddes, Seyed Mahmoud
  • Moinie, Mohammad
  • Nikousokhan, Mahmoud
  • Parsaei, Reza
  • Pouransari, Hashem
  • Rezvanianzadeh, Mohammed Reza
  • Saeedi, Mohammed
  • Safdari, Seyed Jabe
  • Seyyedi, Seyed Nasser Mohammad
  • Suri, Muhammad
  • Tabatabaei, Seyyed Mohammad Ali Khatibi
  • Yazdanjoo, Mohammad Ali
  • Yousefpour, Ali
  • Ziracchian Zadeh, Mahmoud
  • A.S.P. BUILDERS (A.S.P. Construction Company)
  • AA Energy FZCO
  • Advanced Technologies Company of Iran
  • AEOI Basij Resistance Center
  • Agricultural, Medical and Industrial Research Center
  • Arash Shipping Enterprises limited
  • Arta Shipping Enterprises Limited
  • Asan Shipping Enterprise Limited
  • ATLANTIC SHIPPING & TRANS
  • Belize Shipping Line Services LTD
  • Belize Ship and Logistics Limited
  • Blue Tanker Shipping SA
  • Bushehr Shipping Company Limited
  • Arjan Electricity and Energy Generation Management
  • Arman Resources Equip and Support Management
  • ASCOTEC Holding GmbH
  • ASCOTEC Japan K.K.
  • ASCOTEC Mineral & Machinery GmbH
  • ASCOTEC Science & Technology GMBH
  • Ascotec Steel Trading GmbH
  • Asia Energy General Trading LLC
  • BIIS Maritime Limited
  • Atieh Sazan Day
  • Atlas Kian Qeshm
  • Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
  • Atomic Fuel Development Engineering Company
  • Azar Investment
  • Azar Pad Qeshm Co. (APCO)
  • Azerbaijan Construction
  • Iran Insurance Company
  • Baghmisheh Residential Development
  • Behsaz Kashane Tehran Construction Co
  • Behsazan Pars Equipment Development
  • Behshahr Industrial Development Corp
  • Banco Internacional de Desarrollo C.A.
  • Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company Ltd.
  • BMIIC International General Trading
  • Bou Ali Sina Petrochemical Co.
  • Breyeller Stahl Technology GmbH & Co
  • Buali Investment Company
  • Caspian maritime Limited
  • Cement Industry Investment and Development Company
  • Commercial Pars Oil Company
  • Credit Institution for Development
  • Cylinder System L.T.D.
  • Damavand Electricity and power engineering
  • Damavand Power Generation Company
  • Dana Integrated System for Electronic Interactions Co.
  • Danesh Shipping Company Limited
  • DARYA Capital Administration GmbH
  • Daryanavard Kish
  • Davar Shipping Co LTD
  • Day Bank Brokerage Co.
  • e-Commerce Day
  • Day Exchange Company
  • Day Investment Company
  • Day Iranian Financial and Accounting Services Company
  • Day Leasing Company
  • Dena Tankers Fze
  • Diamond Transportation Limited
  • Diamond Transportation Limited Company
  • EDBI Exchange Broker (EDBI Exchange Company)
  • EDBI Stock Brokerage Company
  • Eighth Ocean GmbH & Co. KG
  • Seventh Ocean Administration GmbH
  • Eleventh Ocean GmbH & Co. KG
  • Amin Investment Bank
  • Arian Bank
  • Ayandeh Bank
  • Bank Kargoshaee
  • Bank Keshavarzi Iran
  • Bank Maskan
  • Bank Melli Iran
  • Bank of Industry and Mine
  • Bank Torgovoy Kapital Zao
  • Bank Sepah
  • Bank Sepah International PLC
  • Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran
  • Shahr Bank
  • Refah Bank
  • Tejarat Bank
  • Bank Day
  • EN Bank

Iran reactions

On 8 May 2019, according to article 36 of the agreement, Iran was allowed to reply in case of non-compliance by other signatories. President Rouhani announced that Tehran was acting in reply to "the European countries' failure" and held on to stockpiles of excess uranium and heavy water used in nuclear reactors.[60] Rouhani said that Iran gave a 60-day deadline to remaining signatories of the JCPOA to protect it from US sanctions[61] and provide additional economic support.[62] Otherwise, at the end of that deadline, Iran would exceed the limits on its stockpile of enriched uranium.[63] In September 2019, as a third major step to scale down commitments to the 2015 nuclear accord, after another 60-day deadline, Iran nullified all limits on nuclear research and development.[64]

Sanctions against IRGC

On 21 April 2019, a few days before United States sanctions were due to take effect, Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Hossein Salami as the new commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).[65][66]

On April 8, 2019, the United States imposed economic and travel sanctions on the IRGC and organizations, companies and individuals affiliated with it.[67][68] Hossein Salami was one of the individuals listed.

On 15 April 2019, the US designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization.[69] The designation is still in force.

On 7 June 2019, the US imposed sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry for financially supporting the IRGC.[70]

On 24 June 2019, the US imposed sanctions on eight senior commanders of the navy, aerospace and ground forces components of IRGC.[52]

On 25 October 2007, the US designated the Quds Force, a part of IRGC, a terrorist organization under Executive Order 13224, for providing material support to US-designated terrorist organisations, prohibiting transactions between the group and U.S. citizens, and freezing any assets under U.S. jurisdiction.[71] On 18 May 2011, the US imposed sanctions on Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, along with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and other senior Syrian officials, due to Soleimani's alleged involvement in providing material support to the Syrian government.[72] He was listed as a known terrorist, which forbade U.S. citizens from doing business with him.[73][74] In May 2020 the US charged Iranian-Iraqi Amir Dianat and his Iranian business partner with money-laundering on behalf of the Quds Force and with violating sanctions.[75]

Other sanctions

On September 3, Trump added the Iran Space Agency, the Iranian Astronautics Research Institute and the Iranian Space Research Center to its sanctions list.[76]

On 20 of September, as part of its counter-terrorism authority per Executive Order 13224, the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the National Development Fund of Iran (NDF) and Etemad Tejarate Pars Co., Iranian company that was used to transfer money to the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.[77]

In October 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Iranian construction sector, claiming it has links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it regards as a foreign terrorist organization. The US State Department also identified four “strategic materials” being used in connection with military, nuclear, or ballistic missile programs, making trade in them subject to sanctions. However, the department extended nuclear-cooperation waivers on Iran's civil nuclear program, renewing them for 90 days.[78]

On November 4, 2019, the US imposed new sanctions on the core inner circle of advisers to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The new sanctions included one of his sons, Mojtaba Khamenei, the newly appointed head of Iran's judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, the supreme leader's chief of staff, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, and others. The Trump administration also issued $20 million to a reward for information about a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran 12 years ago.[79]

Effects and criticism
Annual inflation of the Iranian rial. As of 2020, US economic sanctions have contributed to inflation and high unemployment rate alongside economic mismanagement and the coronavirus crisis.[80]
Changes in Iranian oil production in response to sanctions, 2011–2018

According to an Iranian journalist, the effects of sanctions in Iran include expensive basic goods and an aging and increasingly unsafe aircraft fleet. "According to reports from Iranian news agencies, 17 planes have crashed over the past 25 years, killing approximately 1,500 people."[81]

The U.S. forbids aircraft manufacturer Boeing to sell aircraft to Iranian aviation companies.[82] However, there are some authorizations for the export of civil aviation parts to Iran when those items are required for the safety of commercial aircraft.[83] An analysis by The Jerusalem Post found that a third of the 117 Iranian planes designated by the U.S. had experienced accidents or crashes.[84]

A 2005 report, presented at the 36th session of the International Civil Aviation Organization, reported that the U.S. sanctions had endangered the safety of civil aviation in Iran because it prevented Iran from acquiring parts and support essential for aviation safety. It also stated that the sanctions were contrary to article 44 of the Chicago Convention (to which the U.S. is a member). The ICAO report said aviation safety affects human lives and human rights, stands above political differences, and that the assembly should bring international public pressure on the United States to lift the sanctions against Iran.[85]

The European Union had been critical of most of the U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. Some EU member states have criticized ILSA as a "double standard" in U.S. foreign policy, in which the United States vigorously worked against the Arab League boycott of Israel while at the same time promoted a worldwide boycott of Iran. The EU member states had threatened formal counter-action in the World Trade Organization.[86][87]

According to a study by Akbar E. Torbat, "overall, the sanctions' economic effect" on Iran "has been significant, while its political effect has been minimal."[88]

According to the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council, in the medium-term, lifting US sanctions and liberalizing Iran's economic regime would increase Iran's total trade annually by as much as $61 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl), adding 32 percent to Iran's GDP. In the oil-and-gas sector, output and exports would expand by 25-to-50 percent (adding 3 percent to world crude oil production).

Iran could reduce the world price of crude petroleum by 10 percent, saving the United States annually between $38 billion (at the 2005 world oil price of $50/bbl) and $76 billion (at the proximate 2008 world oil price of $100/bbl). Opening Iran’s market place to foreign investment could also be a boon to competitive US multinational firms operating in a variety of manufacturing and service sectors.[89]

In 2009, there was discussion in the U.S. of implementing "crippling sanctions" against Iran, such as the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009, "if diplomatic overture did not show signs of success by the autumn". Professor Hamid Dabashi, of Columbia University, said in August 2009 that this was likely to bring "catastrophic humanitarian consequences", while enriching and strengthening the "security and military apparatus" of "the Pasdaran and the Basij," and having absolutely no support from "any major or even minor opposition leader" in Iran.[90] According to Bloomberg News, Boeing and Exxon have said that new Iran sanctions would cost $25 billion in U.S. exports.[91]

It has also been argued the sanctions have had the counter effect of protecting Iran in some ways, for example the 2007 imposition of U.S. sanctions against Iranian financial institutions to a high degree made Iran immune to the then emerging global recession.[92] Iranian officials argued that the sanctions created new business opportunities for Iranian companies to develop in order to fill the gap left by foreign contractors.[93][94] According to U.S. officials, Iran may lose up to $60 billion in energy investments due to global sanctions.[95]

On 18 January 2012 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that sanctions are aimed at strangling the economy of Iran and would create much discontent toward Western nations, and potentially provoke a negative recourse.[96]

On 13 August 2018 Iran Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that "mismanagement" harmed Iran more than U.S. sanctions did. "More than the sanctions, economic mismanagement (by the government) is putting pressure on ordinary Iranians ... I do not call it betrayal but a huge mistake in management," Khamenei was quoted as saying.[97]

On 22 August 2018, United Nations Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy described the sanctions against Iran as "unjust and harmful". "The reimposition of sanctions against Iran after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been unanimously adopted by the Security Council with the support of the US itself, lays bare the illegitimacy of this action," said Jazairy. According to Jazairy, "chilling effect" caused by the "ambiguity" of recently reimposed sanctions, would lead to "silent deaths in hospitals".[98]

According to Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, U.S. sanctions against Iran are affecting neighboring Pakistan. He stated that "The last thing the Muslim World needs is another conflict. The Trump administration is moving towards that direction."[99]

On 5 May 2019, White House announced the United States has stationed an aircraft carrier strike group and Air Force bombers to the Middle East for “troubling and escalatory signs and warnings” connected to Iran.[100] Mr. Bolton said the purpose of the action is sending a message to the Iranian regime that any attack on US interests or on those of our allies by Iran will be faced with our unremitting response.[101] Also, he declared in the statement, we are not looking for war with Iran but ready to repel to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or regular Iranian forces.[100]

On 19 May 2019, Trump threatened Iran and said in his Twitter post "If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!"[102]

Donald J. Trump Twitter
@realDonaldTrump

If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!

May 19, 2019[103]

According to a 2019 AlJazeera report, some tech companies like as GitHub, Google and Apple and Microsoft began limiting users linked to Iran, and several other countries under US sanctions, access to its services.[104]

On 27 September 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that it is "impossible" for his country to stop buying oil and natural gas from Iran, despite US sanctions against the latter.[105] Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif repeatedly condemned the American sanctions against Iran as "economic terrorism."[106]

Impact on health

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, health workers and sanctions experts said U.S. sanctions, including financial sanctions and lost oil revenues, were preventing the import of medicine and medical supplies including raw materials and equipment needed to manufacture medicines domestically.[107]

Impact on overseas students

As of December 2018, US sanctions were reportedly affecting hundreds of Iranian university students in the UK, preventing them from being able to readily pay their tuition fees and forcing them to choose between abandoning their studies or using dangerous means to transfer funds.[108]

Exceptions
See also: Economic relations between Iran and the United States and Iran's lawsuit at ICJ against United States

In December 2010 it was reported that the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control had approved nearly 10,000 exceptions to U.S. sanctions rules worldwide over the preceding decade by issuing special licenses for American companies.[109]

European and U.S. sanctions do not affect Iran's electricity exports, which creates a loophole for Iran's natural gas reserves.[110]

gollark: What *are* you meaning by user experience, exactly?
gollark: Bad user experience how?
gollark: Fear it.
gollark: My laptop is just a large heavy cuboid of plastic.
gollark: My laptop has a USB-C port which can do video and it also has USB-A and such.

See also

References
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