Iran Sanctions
Abstract
Numerous laws and regulations have been adopted or issued to try to slow Iran's weapons of mass destruction programs and curb its support for militant groups. U.S. sanctions are intended to reduce the revenue available to Iran's government and to generate domestic pressure within Iran to adopt policies more acceptable to the international community. International sanctions have been enacted since 2006, primarily to try to curtail supply to Iran of weapons-related technology, rather than inflict damage on Iran's civilian economy. The wide range of U.S. sanctions restrict U.S. trade with and investment in Iran, prohibit U.S. foreign aid to Iran, and require the United States to vote against international lending to Iran. Several laws and executive orders authorize the imposition of U.S. penalties against foreign companies that do business with Iran, as part of an effort to persuade foreign firms to choose between the Iranian market and the much larger U.S. market. Foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms remain generally exempt from the trade ban since they operate under the laws of the countries where these subsidiaries are incorporated. Successive U.S. Administrations have identified Iran's energy sector as a key Iranian economic vulnerability because Iran's government revenues are approximately 80% dependent on oil revenues and in need of substantial foreign investment. A U.S. effort to curb international energy investment in Iran's energy sector began in 1996 with the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), but no firms have been sanctioned under it. Still, ISA, when coupled with broader factors, may have influenced some international firms' decisions to refrain from investing in energy projects in Iran. Possibly as a result, Iran has been unable to expand oil production beyond 4.1 million barrels per day, although it does now have a gas export sector that it did not have before Iran opened its fields to foreign investment in 1996.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 04, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA520619
Entities
People
- Kenneth Katzman
Organizations
- Library of Congress