Collateral Environmental Impacts of Economic Sanctions on Iran

Abstract

For the past 40 years, Iran has been the target of economic sanctions. Iran has implemented various survivalist policies in response to sanctions, resulting in significant environmental consequences. This study presents the inaugural comprehensive analysis of the inadvertent environmental consequences of international economic sanctions on Iran. Some people say that sanctions are not the main cause of Iran's major environmental problems, but they have had an undeniable effect on the country's environment by: (1) limiting its access to technology, services, and know-how; (2) blocking international environmental aid; and (3) making its economy more dependent on natural resources. Sanctions have effectively restricted Iran's economic growth and its capacity to detach its economy from natural resources, consequently enhancing the significance of natural resources in Iran's political economy. In general, sanctions have made it much more expensive for the environment to produce goods, but this is not a priority for the Iranian leaders who run the country in survival mode while aggressively pursuing their ideology. The study urges increased focus on the neglected environmental consequences of sanctions on Iran, which bear significant health, justice, and human rights ramifications that may be transgenerational and transboundary.