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==Effects==
==Effects==
{{See also| Taxation in Iran#Smuggling | l1=Smuggling in Iran}}
{{See also| Taxation in Iran#Smuggling | l1=Smuggling in Iran}}
The sanctions have had a substantial adverse effect on the Iranian nuclear program by making it harder to acquire specialized materials and equipment needed for the program, despite such sanctions being pushed by the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons i.e. the U.S.A. in addition to the fact that the U.S.A. aided Pakistan and India, both being non signatories of the non proliferation treaty, in acquiring nuclear weapons technology, and providing Israel, also a non signatory, with nuclear weapons. The social and economic effects of sanctions have also been severe, with even those who doubt their efficacy, such as [[John R. Bolton|John Bolton]], describing the EU sanctions, in particular, as "tough, even brutal".<ref name="Bloomberg 26.01.2012b">{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/don-t-let-iran-benefit-from-eu-financial-crisis-john-r-bolton.html |title=Don't Let Iran Benefit From EU Financial Crisis |author=John R. Bolton |date=26 January 2012 |newspaper=Bloomberg |accessdate=27 January 2012 |quote=[S]unny propaganda about the impact of economic sanctions on Iran is emanating from the Obama administration&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. however, there are only two possible outcomes: Either Iran gets nuclear weapons or it doesn't. To ensure that it doesn't, the only viable option is to break Iran's weapons program militarily.}}</ref>
The sanctions have had a substantial adverse effect on the Iranian nuclear program by making it harder to acquire specialized materials and equipment needed for the program, despite such sanctions being pushed by the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons i.e. the U.S.A. in addition to the fact that the U.S.A. aided Pakistan and India <ref name="Chomsky Jun 12 2009">{{cite article |url=http://www.chomsky.info/talks/20090612.htm |title=Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours |author=Noam Chomsky |date 12 June 2009}}</ref>, both being non signatories of the non proliferation treaty, in acquiring nuclear weapons technology, and providing Israel, also a non signatory, with nuclear weapons. The social and economic effects of sanctions have also been severe, with even those who doubt their efficacy, such as [[John R. Bolton|John Bolton]], describing the EU sanctions, in particular, as "tough, even brutal".<ref name="Bloomberg 26.01.2012b">{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/don-t-let-iran-benefit-from-eu-financial-crisis-john-r-bolton.html |title=Don't Let Iran Benefit From EU Financial Crisis |author=John R. Bolton |date=26 January 2012 |newspaper=Bloomberg |accessdate=27 January 2012 |quote=[S]unny propaganda about the impact of economic sanctions on Iran is emanating from the Obama administration&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. however, there are only two possible outcomes: Either Iran gets nuclear weapons or it doesn't. To ensure that it doesn't, the only viable option is to break Iran's weapons program militarily.}}</ref>


Sanctions have reduced Iran's access to products needed for the oil and energy sectors, have prompted many oil companies to withdraw from Iran, and have also caused a decline in oil production due to reduced access to technologies needed to improve their efficiency.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} According to U.S. officials, Iran may lose up to $60 billion in energy investments annually.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} Many international companies have also been reluctant to do business with Iran for fear of losing access to larger Western markets.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} As well as restricting export markets, the sanctions have reduced Iran's oil income by increasing the costs of repatriating revenues in complicated ways that sidestep the sanctions; Iranian analysts estimate the budget deficit for the 2011/2012 fiscal year, which in Iran ends in late March, at between $30bn to $50bn.<ref name="FT 25.01.2012">{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e14a9e1e-4760-11e1-b847-00144feabdc0.html |title=Iran raises interest rate on bank deposits |author=Najmeh Bozorgmehr |date=25 January 2012 |newspaper=The Financial Times |accessdate=27 January 2012}}</ref> The effects of U.S. sanctions include expensive basic goods for Iranian citizens, and an aging and increasingly unsafe civil aircraft fleet. According to the [[Arms Control Association]], the international arms embargo against Iran is slowly reducing Iran's military capabilities, largely due to its dependence on Russian and Chinese military assistance. The only substitute is to find compensatory measures requiring more time and money, and less effective.<ref>http://www.armscontrol.org/issuebriefs/iransanctionseffectonmilitary</ref><ref>http://www.armscontrol.org/events/IranNegotiatedSolution</ref> According to at least one analyst (Fareed Zakaria), the market for imports in Iran is dominated by state enterprises and regime-friendly enterprises, because the way to get around the sanctions is smuggling, and smuggling requires strong connections with the regime. This has weakened Iranian civil society and strengthened the state.<ref name="WAPO 26.01.2011">{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-deal-with-irans-nuclear-future-go-back-to-2008/2011/10/26/gIQADQyEKM_story.html |title=To deal with Iran's nuclear future, go back to 2008 |author=Fareed Zakaria |date=26 October 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=27 January 2012}}</ref>
Sanctions have reduced Iran's access to products needed for the oil and energy sectors, have prompted many oil companies to withdraw from Iran, and have also caused a decline in oil production due to reduced access to technologies needed to improve their efficiency.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} According to U.S. officials, Iran may lose up to $60 billion in energy investments annually.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} Many international companies have also been reluctant to do business with Iran for fear of losing access to larger Western markets.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} As well as restricting export markets, the sanctions have reduced Iran's oil income by increasing the costs of repatriating revenues in complicated ways that sidestep the sanctions; Iranian analysts estimate the budget deficit for the 2011/2012 fiscal year, which in Iran ends in late March, at between $30bn to $50bn.<ref name="FT 25.01.2012">{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e14a9e1e-4760-11e1-b847-00144feabdc0.html |title=Iran raises interest rate on bank deposits |author=Najmeh Bozorgmehr |date=25 January 2012 |newspaper=The Financial Times |accessdate=27 January 2012}}</ref> The effects of U.S. sanctions include expensive basic goods for Iranian citizens, and an aging and increasingly unsafe civil aircraft fleet. According to the [[Arms Control Association]], the international arms embargo against Iran is slowly reducing Iran's military capabilities, largely due to its dependence on Russian and Chinese military assistance. The only substitute is to find compensatory measures requiring more time and money, and less effective.<ref>http://www.armscontrol.org/issuebriefs/iransanctionseffectonmilitary</ref><ref>http://www.armscontrol.org/events/IranNegotiatedSolution</ref> According to at least one analyst (Fareed Zakaria), the market for imports in Iran is dominated by state enterprises and regime-friendly enterprises, because the way to get around the sanctions is smuggling, and smuggling requires strong connections with the regime. This has weakened Iranian civil society and strengthened the state.<ref name="WAPO 26.01.2011">{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-deal-with-irans-nuclear-future-go-back-to-2008/2011/10/26/gIQADQyEKM_story.html |title=To deal with Iran's nuclear future, go back to 2008 |author=Fareed Zakaria |date=26 October 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=27 January 2012}}</ref>

Revision as of 15:15, 13 February 2012

Numerous nations and multinational entities impose Sanctions against Iran. Sanctions commonly bar nuclear; missile and certain military exports to Iran; investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals; exports of refined petroleum products; business dealings with the Iranian Republican Guard Corps; banking and insurance transactions, including with the Central Bank of Iran; and shipping. The United States imposed sanctions on Iran following the Islamic revolution of 1979, while more recent rounds of sanctions by the U.S. and other entities were motivated by Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program.[1]

UN sanctions against Iran

  • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696 - passed on 31 July 2006. Demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, but did not invoke Chapter VII or impose sanctions.
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737 - passed on 23 December 2006. Banned the supply of nuclear-related materials and technology and froze the assets of key individuals and companies related to the program.
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 - passed on 24 March 2007. Imposed an arms embargo and expanded the freeze on Iranian assets.
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1803 - passed on 3 March 2008. Extended the asset freezes and called upon states to monitor the activities of Iranian banks, inspect Iranian ships and aircraft, and to monitor the movement of individuals involved with the program through their territory.
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1835 - Passed in 2008.
  • United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 - passed on 9 June 2010. Banned Iran from participating in any activities related to ballistic missiles, tightened the arms embargo, travel bans on individuals involved with the program, froze the funds and assets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and recommended that states inspect Iranian cargo, prohibit the servicing of Iranian vessels involved in prohibited activities, prevent the provision of financial services used for sensitive nuclear activities, closely watch Iranian individuals and entities when dealing with them, prohibit the opening of Iranian banks on their territory and prevent Iranian banks from entering into relationship with their banks if it might contribute to the nuclear program, and prevent financial institutions operating in their territory from opening offices and accounts in Iran.

EU sanctions against Iran

See also: European Union sanctions against Iran

The European Union has imposed restrictions on cooperation with Iran in foreign trade, financial services, energy sectors and technologies, and banned the provision of insurance and reinsurance by insurers in member states to Iran and Iranian-owned companies. On January 23, 2012, the EU imposed an oil embargo on Iran.

National sanctions against Iran

See also: U.S. sanctions against Iran
  • The United States has imposed an arms ban and an almost total economic embargo on Iran, which includes sanctions on companies doing business with Iran, a ban on all Iranian-origin imports, sanctions on Iranian financial institutions, and an almost total ban on selling aircraft or repair parts to Iranian aviation companies. A license from the Treasury Department is required to do business with Iran. In June 2011, the United States imposed sanctions against Iran Air (Iran’s main commercial airline) and Tidewater Middle East Co. (which runs seven Iranian ports), stating that Iran Air had provided material support to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is already subject to UN sanctions, that Tidewater Middle East is owned by the IRGC, and that both have been involved in activities including illegal weapons transportation.[2] The U.S. has also begun to designate a number of senior Iranian officials under the Iranian Human Rights Abuses Sanctions Regulations. On December 14, 2011, the U.S. Department of Treasury designated Hassan Firouzabadi and Abdollah Araqi under this sanctions program. [3]
  • Canada imposed a ban on dealing in the property of designated Iranian nationals, a complete arms embargo, oil-refining equipment, items that could contribute to the Iranian nuclear program, the establishment of an Iranian financial institution, branch, subsidiary, or office in Canada or a Canadian one in Iran, investment in the Iranian oil and gas sector, relationships with Iranian banks, purchasing debt from the Iranian government, or providing a ship or services to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, but allows the Foreign Minister to issue a permit to carry out a specified prohibited activity or transaction.[4]
  • Australia has imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on individuals and entities involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs or assist Iran in violating sanctions, and an arms embargo.[5]
  • South Korea imposed sanctions on 126 Iranian individuals and companies.[6]
  • Japan imposed a ban on transactions with some Iranian banks, investments with the Iranian energy sector, and asset freezes against individuals and entities involved with Iran's nuclear program.[7][dead link]
  • Switzerland banned the sale of arms and dual-use items to Iran, and of products that could be used in the Iranian oil and gas sector, financing this sector, and restrictions on financial services.[8]
  • India enacted a ban on the export of all items, materials, equipment, goods, and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear program.[9]
  • Israel banned business with or unauthorized travel to Iran under a law banning ties with enemy states.[10] Israel has also enacted legislation that imposes sanctions on any companies that violate international sanctions.[11] Israel later extended the sanctions by imposing a series of administrative and regulatory measures to prevent Israeli companies from trading with Iran, and announced the establishment of a national directorate to implement the sanctions.[12]

Effects

See also: Smuggling in Iran

The sanctions have had a substantial adverse effect on the Iranian nuclear program by making it harder to acquire specialized materials and equipment needed for the program, despite such sanctions being pushed by the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons i.e. the U.S.A. in addition to the fact that the U.S.A. aided Pakistan and India [13], both being non signatories of the non proliferation treaty, in acquiring nuclear weapons technology, and providing Israel, also a non signatory, with nuclear weapons. The social and economic effects of sanctions have also been severe, with even those who doubt their efficacy, such as John Bolton, describing the EU sanctions, in particular, as "tough, even brutal".[14]

Sanctions have reduced Iran's access to products needed for the oil and energy sectors, have prompted many oil companies to withdraw from Iran, and have also caused a decline in oil production due to reduced access to technologies needed to improve their efficiency.[citation needed] According to U.S. officials, Iran may lose up to $60 billion in energy investments annually.[citation needed] Many international companies have also been reluctant to do business with Iran for fear of losing access to larger Western markets.[citation needed] As well as restricting export markets, the sanctions have reduced Iran's oil income by increasing the costs of repatriating revenues in complicated ways that sidestep the sanctions; Iranian analysts estimate the budget deficit for the 2011/2012 fiscal year, which in Iran ends in late March, at between $30bn to $50bn.[15] The effects of U.S. sanctions include expensive basic goods for Iranian citizens, and an aging and increasingly unsafe civil aircraft fleet. According to the Arms Control Association, the international arms embargo against Iran is slowly reducing Iran's military capabilities, largely due to its dependence on Russian and Chinese military assistance. The only substitute is to find compensatory measures requiring more time and money, and less effective.[16][17] According to at least one analyst (Fareed Zakaria), the market for imports in Iran is dominated by state enterprises and regime-friendly enterprises, because the way to get around the sanctions is smuggling, and smuggling requires strong connections with the regime. This has weakened Iranian civil society and strengthened the state.[18]

The plunge of the Iranian rial since autumn 2011 has caused widespread panic among the Iranian public,[15] and the value of the rial was dealt another blow immediately after the EU imposed an oil embargo on Iran, the Iranian rial fell 10%.[19] In January 2012, the country raised the interest rate on bank deposits by up to 6 percentage points in order to curtail the rial's depreciation. The rate increase was a setback for Ahmadinejad, who had been using below-inflation rates to provide cheap loans to the poor, though naturally Iranian bankers were delighted by the increase.[15] Not long after, and just a few days after Iran's economic minister declared that "there was no economic justification" for devaluing the currency because Iran's foreign exchange reserves were "not only good, but the extra oil revenues are unprecedented",[15] the country announced its intention to devalue by about 8.5 percent against the U.S. dollar, set a new exchange rate and vowed to reduce the black market's influence (booming, of course, because of the lack of confidence in the rial).[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ariel Zirulnick, "Sanction Qaddafi? How 5 nations have reacted to sanctions: Iran.", The Christian Science Monitor, February 24, 2011. Accessed Feb. 24, 2011
  2. ^ http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7341ec48-9deb-11e0-958b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1dd3ViXKz
  3. ^ OFAC Targets Two Iranians for SDN Designations, Sanction Law, December 14, 2011
  4. ^ Government of Canada, Sanctions against Iran, July 26, 2010
  5. ^ Government of Australia, Australia's autonomous sanctions: Iran, July 29, 2010
  6. ^ Choe Sang-Hun, "South Korea Aims Sanctions at Iran", New York Times, September 8, 2010
  7. ^ BBC
  8. ^ "Switzerland brings Iran sanctions in line with EU", Reuters, January 19, 2011.
  9. ^ "India imposes more sanctions on Iran", The Hindu, April 1, [2011]
  10. ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4075924,00.html
  11. ^ France 24, "Israel to 'finally' impose sanctions on Iran", March 3, 2011
  12. ^ Gov't expands economic sanctions against Iran
  13. ^ Template:Cite article
  14. ^ John R. Bolton (26 January 2012). "Don't Let Iran Benefit From EU Financial Crisis". Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 January 2012. [S]unny propaganda about the impact of economic sanctions on Iran is emanating from the Obama administration . . . however, there are only two possible outcomes: Either Iran gets nuclear weapons or it doesn't. To ensure that it doesn't, the only viable option is to break Iran's weapons program militarily.
  15. ^ a b c d Najmeh Bozorgmehr (25 January 2012). "Iran raises interest rate on bank deposits". The Financial Times. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  16. ^ http://www.armscontrol.org/issuebriefs/iransanctionseffectonmilitary
  17. ^ http://www.armscontrol.org/events/IranNegotiatedSolution
  18. ^ Fareed Zakaria (26 October 2011). "To deal with Iran's nuclear future, go back to 2008". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  19. ^ "Iran's rial drops 10 percent as EU bans oil imports". Al Arabiya. Reuters. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  20. ^ Ladane Nasseri (26 January 2012). "Iran Central Bank Will Devalue Rial 8.5% Against Dollar as Sanctions Bite". Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
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