On Thursday, following a recent missile test by the Iranian government, the US Department of the Treasury placed new financial sanctions on several groups the US believes are involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program.
The groups involved are subsidiaries of Shahid Hemmat Industrial and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Al-Ghadir Missile Command. The United States also targeted two British companies — Aviation Capital Solutions and Aircraft, Avionics, Parts & Support — that it believes are providing aid to an Iranian airline flying resources to Syria.
Recent missile related sanctions, including this one, are aimed at international trade for Iran, and affect 12 companies that are outside of — but affiliated with — Iran.
Sanctions have already been devastating for Iran’s economy in recent years, according to the Economist, who notes that “the speed of the recent deterioration is also due to the ratcheting up of sanctions on Iran’s vital energy sector, which provides about 80% of export revenues.”
Further sanctions are expected to have an even greater impact on Iran’s current economic situation. Unfortunately, these sanctions will most likely not deter the Iranian government’s nuclear ambitions, but will be detrimental to Iranian citizens.
Similar sanctions have reportedly contributed significantly to the death of 500,000 children since 1999 in Iraq, which is twice the rate they were dying at prior to 1990, according to UNICEF. This comes mainly as a result of widespread food shortages occur when sanctions are imposed.
The sanctions were levied on the same day as seven Iranian hackers were criminally charged by the United States Department of Justice for cyber attacks on US banks, signaling that the Trump Administration is taking far more combative actions against Iran than the previous administration.
Iran’s population is abnormally young. More than half of Iran’s population is under the age of 35 — a population far more liberal than their government. These sanctions are thus heavily targeted at our allies – the people of Iran – rather than the government. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also acknowledged in a recent video statement that the people of Iran are not the enemy, rather the “cruel regime” that has imposed a “theocratic tyranny” over its citizens.
Photo Credit: AFP
Nicholas Amato
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