SANCTIONS ON IRAN
A look at the major sanctions imposed on Iran
since 1979, many of which aim to derail its nuclear
development November 1979: US imposes first sanctions
after Iranian students storm the US embassy and take
diplomats hostage earlier in the year. Iranian products are
banned from import into the U.S. apart from small gifts,
information material, foodstuffs and some carpets. $ 12 billion in
Iranian assets are frozen.
March 1995: President Bill Clinton issues
executive orders preventing US companies from investing in
Iranian oil and gas and trading with Iran.
April 1996: Congress passes a law requiring the US government impose sanctions on foreign firms investing
more than $ 20 million a year in Iran s energy
sector.
December 2006: UN Security Council imposes
sanctions on Iran's trade in nuclear-related materials
and technology; freezes assets of individuals and companies
involved with nuclear activities.
March 2007: UNSC votes to toughen sanctions by
banning all of Iran's arms exports and extending
the freeze on
assets of those associated with the enrichment
programme. One month later, the EU publishes an expanded
list of Iranian individuals and companies deemed persona non
grata in the bloc.
October 2007: The US announces new sanctions,
for
supporting terrorists'. Cut more than 20 organisations
associated to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard
Corps from the US financial system and three state-owned
banks.
March 2008: UNSC passes further sanctions,
including the monitoring of Iranian banks and all
Iranian cargo planes and ships suspected of carrying previously
sanctioned items. It also extends asset freezes.
June 2010: UNSC imposes fourth round of
sanctions-
tighter financial curbs and an expanded arms embargo. Prohibits Iran from buying heavy weapons.
US Congress instates penalties for firms that
supply Iran
with refined petroleum products worth over a
certain amount.
May 2011: US blacklists the 21st Iranian state
bank, the
Bank of Industry and Mines, for transactions
with previously
banned institutions.
August 2010: EU prohibits the creation of
joint ventures with enterprises in Iran engaged in oil and
natural gas industries, as well as the import and export of
arms and equipment related to nuclear activities. The sale, supply,
and transfer of
Equipment and technology used for natural gas
production is also banned.
November 2011: The US, UK and Canada announce
bilateral sanctions. While US expands
sanctions to companies that aid Iran's oil and petrochemical industrials, UK
mandates all British financial institutions stop doing
business with their Iranian counterparts.
January 2012: US imposes sanctions on Iran's
central bank, the main clearing-house for its oil
export profits, Iran, in
turn, threatens to close transport of oil
through Strait of Hormuz.
June 2012: US bans the world's banks from
completing oil transactions with Iran.
July 2012: EU Ban of oil exports takes effect.
October 2012: Iran's rial currency falls to a
new record low against the US dollar, having lost about
losing 80 percent of its value since 2011. EU tightens sanctions on the country's banking,
trade, and energy sectors. The package
prohibits any transactions with
Iranian banks and financial institutions.
February 2013: The West on February 6,
imposing a new set of restrictions intended to force Iran
into what amounts to a form of barter trade for oil, because payments
for oil deliveries can no longer be sent to accounts inside Iran.
It calls on countries that buy Iranians
crude-mostly Asian nations including China and India-to set the
money aside and ,,require Iran to buy local products rather
than get cash.
