Report on Iran Sanctions

Iran has been in the news quite a bit in recent months, due to the recent contested election outcome, the hostile stance towards U.S. ally Israel, and Iran's general diplomatic belligerence on nuclear weapons and other issues.

When dealing with hostile states, sanctions are a common tool to which foreign policy makers resort. Several laws and regulations have instituted trade restrictions on Iran in an attempt to reduce their aggressive activity. The Congressional Research Service has recently released a report (PDF) outlining some of these restrictions and assessing proposals to modify or expand them. The report reads:

While the oil and gas sector has been a focus of U.S. sanctions since the 1990s, the Obama Administration appears to be shifting—in U.S. regulations and in discussions with U.S. allies on a possible new U.N. Security Council Resolution—to targeting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for sanctions. This shift is intended to weaken the Guard as a proliferation-supporting organization, as well as to expose its role in trying to crush the democratic opposition in Iran. A growing trend in Congress, reflected in several bills that are have passed or are in various stages of consideration, would sanction Iranian officials who are human rights abusers, facilitate the democracy movement’s access to information, and express outright U.S. support for the overthrow of the regime.

It also reviews legislation making its way through Congress, including the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act in the House and the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act, which has passed both the House and Senate and awaits conference committee action to resolve differences.