[View the story "Life under sanctions" on Storify ]Life under sanctions We examine the impact sanctions have had on Iran’s economy and people. Storified by The Stream · Thu, Aug 23 2012 10:44:30
In August, the US approved its most recent round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran, in opposition to the nation's nuclear program. These follow years of other sanctions, initiated by US administration, and mirrored by the EU and UN Security Council. President Obama has
committed to a vision of what he calls a "new chapter of engagement" with Iran:
President Obama Signs Iran Sanctions Actwhitehouse
Recent iterations of sanctions were intended to be 'smart' and targeted. The US government lists specific companies, institutions, and banking networks that contribute to Iranian defense, technology, and nuclear expansion. Sanctions are also meant to undermine human rights abuses carried out by the Iranian government. In February, President Obama
expressed the hope that these sanctions would bring about political change without harming individual Iranians or shaking international markets.
Large components of the economic impact of sanctions include Iran's oil exports and currency stability. After a year of increased restrictions on trade with Iran, The International Energy Association
reported that oil exports had nearly halved since 2011. In the same time, the Iranian rial fell 38 per cent in value.
Two of Iran's largest oil trade partners, China and India, still import barrels from Iran, but not without impact from the sanctions. India's consumption
declined 40 per cent since July 2011.
ReutersAJstream
ReutersAJstream
The weakening Iranian economy may have shaken the legitimate power structures in the country: Iran has illegal currency trading
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq; economic leadership in the country has
called the sanctions acts of "war". More certain is the acute effect of sanctions on ordinary citizens.
One documentary project,
"Sanctioned" , chronicles the experiences of peoples living under international sanctions. Iranians abroad are using the project as a platform to explain the effects that sanctions have on various parts of their lives.
In the clip below, Ghazal says she is unable to find work because of her nationality. Ghazal says that one consulting company even claimed that, if she was hired, "they would have to ask every customer they had if they would be okay for an Iranian to work on their projects".
Ghazal's Sanctioned Lifesanctionedlife
Ata Tehranchi, an Iranian citizen with permanent residency in Canada, was prohibited from banking in Vancouver, despite his earning a legal wage and having no transactions with Iran.
Ata's Storysanctionedlife
On August 13, Mohammad shared his frustration with the inability to provide aid to Iranians injured or displaced due to a recent earthquake in northwest Iran. He says that sanctions prohibit the only help that Iranians abroad can give - economic assistance.
Mohammad's Storysanctionedlife
Many have argued that the sanctions have inhibited both domestic and international relief efforts. After Iran declined aid offered by the US government, the US Treasury
announced that it would grant non-profits a 45-day fundraising period for those affected, starting August 21.
While the US has upped its disaster relief, Iranians within the country struggle every day under medication shortages brought on by the subsidies. In a July 2012 brief for the
International Civil-Society Action Network (ICAN), one women
shared her experience with the lack of access:
International Civil-Society Action NetworkAJstream
Reza Marashi of the National Iranian American Council points out how the US relief efforts fall short, in context of the larger sanctions:
#Sanctions have humanitarian exemption. Now let's all go to FedEx, try sending medicine to #Iran & see if it ever leaves America (it won't)Reza Marashi
Iranian officials
maintain that their economy is resilient, even among these tough sanctions. In response, political leaders and analysts suggest the country develop an 'economy of resistance'. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has called for the country to shift from an oil-based economy to one that is knowledge-based. In the segment below for Iran's PressTV, Khamenei argues that sanctions can be seen as opportunities for growth:
Iran's counter-sanction strategy: Economy of Resistancepresstvglobalnews
Many Iranians struggle to view the sanctions in the same way.The cinching of Iran's economy brought on by these sanctions is effecting the country through the end of fuel and food subsidies.Foreign medicines and imported ingredients for drugs are
scarce . Since 2010, the price of foodstuffs in Iran
rose between 20-100 per cent and many
wonder how the country can have a united moral and nationalist agenda while the public is struggling.
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Below, cartoonist Mana Neyestani's character reads a paper with the words: "One mullah from Khorramabad says: 'Eating chicken is prohibited. In dangerous times, it is definitely not recommended by religious decree'". In response, the pig on the right greets the chicken: "Welcome. The rest are on their way too".
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Iranians in the country have even taken to civil disobedience to express their dissatisfaction with the current economic situation. The graphic below, from opposition site
Meli Mazhabi , prompts Iranians to boycott: "Don't buy milk and bread in protest of high prices due to inflation. Saturday, Sunday and Monday--do not buy these things. Be a lion [be brave]".
MeliMazhabi.comAJstream
Others have publicly
correlated the current situation with international sanctions, asking, "Nuclear energy, at what price"?
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Maha Alimardani argues that Iranian citizens, not its nuclear programme, should be the
focus of domestic and international policy. In a clip below, recorded for The Stream, Alimardani warns that the effects of Iranian sanctions seem to be a repeat of US history in the region:
Sanctions for AJ streammegaimplicit
