The United States has an extensive history of sanctioning Iran, dating back to the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979. The major international crisis consisted of Iranian students in Iran seizing the U.S. Embassy and taking 52 Americans hostage; The crisis lasted 444 days and did not end until President Jimmy Carter’s final day in office. During the duration of the hostages remaining captive, President Carter imposed a series of sanctions against Iran, aimed at its economy and military, and effectively froze all Iranian government assets held within the U.S. The U.S. continues to sanction various aspects of Iran for 40 continuous years.
Following the Iran hostage crisis, President Bill Clinton responded to Tehran’s support for extremism by instilling a comprehensive embargo on bilateral trade and targeting energy. In 2002, the National Council of Resistance in Iran revealed two Iranian nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak – the facility at Natanz was a uranium enrichment facility and Arak was a heavy-water production facility. Because Iran had hidden the existence of these facilities, it raised suspicions within the International Atomic Energy Agency. European governments aimed to find a solution for this crisis but in 2005, former Iranian President Ahmadinejad rejected European negotiations.
The United Nations Security Council passed four resolutions that permitted states to impose sanctions on Iran but proved inefficient, and serious negotiations regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) took place in the early 2010s. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to dismantle nuclear programs and stimulate more transparency in its facilities, in exchange for sanction relief. The United States has not been a part of the JCPOA since 2018 when President Donald Trump decided to withdraw. The Trump administration reinstated a “maximum pressure” approach on Iran, reimposing sanctions that were temporarily lifted and targeting Iranian financial institutions, including its Central Bank.
A 2018 study by Fatemeh Kokabisaghi uses the Human Rights Impact Assessments tool to conclude that sanctions on Iran have caused a severe depletion of the country’s revenue, devaluation of natural currency, and increased inflation and unemployment. This resulted in a decline in civilian welfare and limited access to necessities like medicine and healthcare. Because sanctions targeted almost all Iranian manufacturers, they could not pay timely wages and had to fire workers. A 2013 report by the United Nations General Assembly states, “Advanced medicines are produced primarily by firms based in Western countries and are subject to 20-year patents, rendering it impossible to substitute products from an alternative source.” Patients who require advanced medicine are met with inaccessibility, due to the severity and misaimed sanctions. The severity of these sanctions has resulted in economic struggles, such as unemployment and poverty, and affects the welfare of civilians through the inaccessibility of medicine.
Medicine and health care is increasingly affected by these sanctions, as a 2018 study to assess the accessibility of drugs from noncommunicable diseases in relation to sanctions on the Iranian financial institutions concluded that drugs, health care and medicine cannot be separated from sanctions, especially drugs that “depended on the import of their raw material or finished products.”
The sanctions on Iran, which once began as a response to extremism and nuclear regulation, have had a more direct impact on the welfare of civilians. If the main worry of foreign states is the nuclear developments of Iran, then the most effective solution may not be targeting civilians and decreasing diplomacy efforts. Iranian civilians have a right to health; if sanctions are affecting accessibility to medicine and healthcare and degrading air quality by forcing Iran to use older automotive technology, then other solutions must be considered.
Ever since the withdrawal of the U.S. from the JCPOA, there has been regulatory pressure from the U.S., and despite their best efforts, it did not slow down the development of nuclear proliferation in Iran. One potential step toward a solution would be easing the cycle of escalation, beginning with increased diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran. Furthermore, a maximum pressure sanction campaign should be amended to refocusing back on one of the U.S.’ main concerns, such as nuclear development, and stimulate a slow repair of civilian welfare.
Another step toward a solution would be increased transparency, which would include the UN inspectors and inspection of nuclear development sites. In the past, Iran has barred several UN Nuclear Agency inspectors from monitoring developments. A lack of transparency surrounding nuclear developments has festered into an environment of distrust and increasing skepticism, which may never result in a scenario beneficial for Iranian citizens.The Institute for Science and International Security, “The IAEA’s efforts to verify Iran’s nuclear activities, particularly its uranium enrichment activities, continue to be seriously affected by Iran’s decision last fall to withdraw the designation of several experienced inspectors.” The lack of transparency – a result of withdrawing designation of nuclear inspectors – has harmed Iran’s foreign diplomatic relations.
There are gaps in this solution – the Trump administration has paused all U.S. foreign aid and the 2018 withdrawal from the JCPOA has shown that the U.S. may not be willing to join back into a deal that eases its grip on Iran’s economy. The Trump administration has also signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum to restore its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran. Because Iran has only responded to this with increased proliferation, this pressure-filled policy has been ineffective. All parties must focus on the welfare of Iranian citizens. Sanctions aimed at nuclear proliferation and extremism have done little to downsize concerns, and in turn, have imposed hardships on civilians. Working toward increased diplomacy, shifting the focus of sanctions, and allowing UN Nuclear Agency inspectors into Iranian sites could have a positive impact on the welfare of Iranian citizens.
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