2013 Briefing Book - Print Version - Aipac

IRAN
In 2012, the Obama administration also acted to sanction the Central Bank of Iran, the National
Iranian Oil Company, the IRGC and numerous Iranian entities involved in proliferation and terrorism.
The administration has actively engaged with purchasers of Iranian petroleum to press them to reduce
such purchases and find alternative suppliers. Sanctions have also been imposed on several foreign
energy firms and financial institutions for conducting prohibited activities with Iran, marking the first
time the U.S. has taken such action.
Since 2007, the United States has also worked with the U.N. Security Council to pass four sets
of increasingly tougher sanctions on Iran. These measures—mandatory for all U.N. members—
target Iranian entities involved in Tehran’s nuclear, missile and conventional weapons programs.
The European Union, Japan, Australia, Canada, South Korea and other U.S. allies have adopted
further measures beyond the U.N. sanctions. In July 2012, the EU imposed a complete embargo
on the purchase of Iranian oil.
Combined with American efforts, these international sanctions are having a dramatic impact
on the Iranian economy and are causing increased political division within Iran. Iran’s currency,
the rial, has lost nearly 80 percent of its value in the last two years as the country has been cut
off from the international financial system. The devaluation of the currency has led to rampant
inflation, and unemployment, already high, is growing.
As a result of these sanctions, growing concern among the political elite is producing tensions
within the conservative establishment, and criticism of the government of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad is rising, along with dissension in Iran’s clerical ranks.
Iranian oil exports have dropped by more than half since the middle of 2012.
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