Categories
- Nuclear-related. Pre-JCPOA UN, US, and EU sanctions targeting the nuclear programme. Partly lifted under JCPOA; largely restored after 2018.
- Ballistic-missile and proliferation. Restrictions on missile-related technology transfer and entities involved in missile development.
- Terrorism designations. US designations of the IRGC and individual leaders as Foreign Terrorist Organisations.
- Human rights. Designations targeting specific officials and entities for human-rights violations.
- Maritime and energy. Restrictions on Iranian oil exports, on shipping companies that move Iranian crude, and on the financial channels that settle the trade.
- Financial isolation. Disconnection from SWIFT (partial, contested) and from the US dollar system through the secondary-sanctions architecture.
Primary vs secondary sanctions
Primary sanctions restrict the sanctioning country's own citizens and companies from dealing with the target. Secondary sanctions extend the restriction to non-sanctioning countries by threatening loss of access to the US financial system. Secondary sanctions are the principal mechanism by which US sanctions exert pressure on third-country firms (Chinese refiners, Turkish banks, Gulf trading houses).
What sanctions can do
- Raise the cost of business with the target.
- Slow proliferation-sensitive technology transfer.
- Create visible diplomatic pressure that strengthens negotiating leverage.
What they cannot do
- Force regime change. The historical record is poor.
- Stop evasion entirely. Workarounds (ship-to-ship transfers, front companies, alternative payment systems) are well-documented.
- Avoid civilian impact. Restricted access to medicines, machinery, and food has accompanied every long-running sanctions programme.