No Shift in Iran’s Nuclear Behavior, Despite Sanctions

Sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy, but may have also strengthened leaders’ resolve to defy the US and Europe by pursuing a uranium-enrichment program. “[H]ardships have not triggered significant domestic protests or produced a single concession by Iran on its nuclear program,” report Joby Warrick and Anne Gearan for the Washington Post. “Although weakened, Iran has resisted Western pressure through a combination of clever tactics, political repression and old-fashioned stubbornness, analysts say.” Iranian oil exports have been halved since the tough sanctions were imposed in 2012, and Iran struggles to conduct transactions in global markets. Still, analysts report that Iran continues to enrich uranium beyond what’s needed for peaceful purposes. Countries that depend on oil imports, like Japan, South Korea and India, are frustrated by the sanctions. Some international distributors are said to be cheating. The US strives to close off loopholes; options for the US and others that want to apply pressure on Iran’s leaders to curtail the nuclear program are limited. – YaleGlobal