US Sanctions Against Iran Will Remain After Obama

A widespread media effort both inside and outside Iran has created the public impression that with the implementation of the 'JCPOA', all sanctions against Iran have either been lifted or will quickly fade away. This type of political and promotional behavior, which some prominent observers have also joined, generates false hope in public opinion and, correspondingly, invites risks that may arise from moving towards a mirage. The establishment of a media celebration on the occasion of the announcement of the SWIFT lifting by the Central Bank Governor, while Iran has not yet practically returned to the SWIFT banking transaction agreement, and only permission has been granted for its return, alongside promises of purchasing $200 billion worth of passenger aircraft by officials of the Islamic Republic, while not even a contract for a new passenger aircraft has been signed, are among the media promises that, as a result of their widespread promotion, mislead public opinion. Despite the nominal lifting of some sanctions due to Security Council Resolution 2231, which accounts for only about 5% of the total remaining sanctions, the complete lifting of all sanctions requires years of time and the establishment of a roadmap for returning to the path where sanctions against Iran were approved and implemented. The most effective sanctions against Iran have been imposed by multiple US administrations since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The reason for imposing sanctions was Washington's reaction to the enmity of the revolutionary government of Iran towards the US, which had very friendly and extensive political, military, and economic relations with Iran prior to the rise of the revolutionary regime in 1979. A review of the history and types of US sanctions against Iran shows that it is not possible to lift all sanctions against Iran solely by passing a resolution in the Security Council or issuing a government order from the sitting US President; a point that the Chairman of the US Foreign Relations Committee recently emphasized. Carter and the Beginning of US Sanctions Despite Jimmy Carter's extensive efforts to maintain friendly relations with the newly established revolutionary regime in Iran, the harsh confrontations of Ruhollah Khomeini with the US made even the continuation of working relations between the two countries impossible. In November 1979, about eight months after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, the US embassy was occupied by a group of armed individuals who introduced themselves as 'students following the line of Imam'. During this action, all US embassy staff were taken hostage. On the twelfth of that month, Carter issued statement number 4702 banning the entry of 'Iranian oil products' into the US. Two days later, Executive Order 12170 was issued by the US President, resulting in the seizure of all movable and immovable Iranian assets in the US worth over $12 billion. On April 7, 1980, Jimmy Carter issued Executive Order 12205, prohibiting the export of all commercial goods from the US to Iran, and ten days later, Executive Order 1211 banned the import of Iranian goods into the US and restricted American citizens from traveling to Iran, initiating banking restrictions against Iran. As a result of negotiations related to the American hostages and their release on January 19, 1980, a large portion of the seized Iranian assets were released, and the remainder was freed as a result of recent direct talks between Iran and the US in the context of the nuclear agreement, amounting to $1.7 billion in cash made available to the government of Hassan Rouhani. The status of a large portion of bank accounts, the method of calculating interest on seized assets, and the actual amount of remaining Iranian assets with America's European partners remain unclear, just as the status of laws passed by Congress and executive orders by US Presidents since 1979 remains unresolved. Although Obama granted the authority to lift the ban on selling aircraft to Iran to his Secretary of State, he only nominally ended the limitation on the sale of one type of commodity to Iran on paper, but removing banking and legal obstacles to this matter requires a long time. Sanctions by the Next Two US Presidents After the terrorist attack in 1983 against the US embassy in Beirut and the explosion on October 23 of that year against the US Marine barracks in the Lebanese capital, which resulted in the deaths of 241 American soldiers and 58 French soldiers, Ronald Reagan, the sitting US President, designated the Islamic Republic as a 'state sponsor of international terrorism' on January 20, 1984, while simultaneously announcing a mix of new economic sanctions against Iran. Nevertheless, the provocative and hostile actions of the Islamic Republic against the US continued, as during the height of the war with Iraq, the Islamic Republic attacked commercial and oil tankers flying the US flag in the Persian Gulf in 1984 (the Tanker War). On October 30, 1987, Reagan issued Executive Order 12613 prohibiting the entry of 'Iranian crude oil' into the US. Before banning the entry of Iranian crude oil, Reagan made numerous attempts to approach the Islamic Republic from 1982 to 1987 (including the illegal sale of weapons to Iran between 1985 and 1986 - Iran-Contra), but the Islamic Republic did not end its enmity with the US. George H.W. Bush, who succeeded Reagan, signed the 'Weapons and Mass Destruction Proliferation Prevention Act' against Iran (and Iraq) on October 23, 1992, prohibiting the sale of dual-use equipment that could be used in the production of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons to them. The Bill Clinton Era Contrary to George H.W. Bush, his successor Bill Clinton believed in the impact of sanctions and somewhat saw the majority of Republicans in Congress (since 1994) for economic pressure against Iran as part of his administration's political line. Contrary to Washington's expectations of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's government to adopt milder behaviors, the Islamic Republic took one step forward towards rapprochement with the US and two steps back by continuing its support for terrorism and resisting peace in the Middle East. As a result, for the Clinton administration, it seemed that there was no choice but to impose more sanctions against Iran. The new US sanctions, which targeted oil revenues and the modernization of Iran's outdated oil industry equipment, began with Executive Order 12597 dated March 17, 1995. On May 9, 1995, Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 12595 prohibiting the export and import of any goods with Iran and extended its scope to partners of American companies outside the US. In 1996, led by Senator Alfonse D'Amato (a Republican senator from New York) and with last-minute intervention by Senator Edward Kennedy to add Libya alongside Iran, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), which was much heavier than previous sanctions, was passed and subsequently signed by Clinton. The ILSA, from which Libya's name has now been removed, remains in effect and prevents investments of over $20 million by American companies in Iran's oil and gas projects. George W. Bush and Obama In August 2001, George W. Bush extended the ILSA for two years, and this extension has continued since then, with Barack Obama also having done so during his two presidential terms. After the terrorist event of September 11, 2001, George W. Bush identified Iran as a member of the 'Axis of Evil' and began new efforts to further punish Iran, which was suspected of seeking nuclear weapons. In 2006, in addition to extending sanctions against Iran until 2011, Bush began targeting individuals and institutions associated with Iran. The Obama administration, in addition to extending the sanctions prior to its administration and imposing a large number of new sanctions targeting institutions and individuals associated with the Islamic Republic, imposed the most comprehensive sanctions against Iran in January 2012, placing the Iranian economy in a very difficult situation. In addition to ongoing efforts by the US Congress to impose new sanctions against Iran, the non-renewal of some sanctions does not mean their cancellation and the return of conditions to the status prior to their imposition, and reaching a new status requires a resolution or resolutions from Congress or the issuance of new orders and executive orders, as was the case with the issuance of permission for the sale of passenger aircraft from the US to Iran.