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The Unintended Consequences of US-led Sanctions on Iranian Industries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Mehdi Majidpour
Mehdi Majidpour*
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Science, Technology and Industrial Policy Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
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Abstract

This paper aims to understand the consequences of US-led sanctions on two important industries in Iran: the oil and gas industry and power plant construction. Using qualitative methods and providing empirical evidence, this paper demonstrates the shortcomings of the pro-sanctions argument in the Iranian context. This paper argues that pro-sanctions literature is more inclined towards American politics; it ignores socially recurring effects such as empowering self-reliance in the target country. In the Iranian context, while sanctions regimes are beyond the control or power of industry managers, they have acted as a double-edged sword. On one hand, the sanctions have imposed extra costs on domestic companies in acquiring technological knowledge. On the other hand, they have stimulated policy-makers' determination and empowered a self-reliance doctrine amongst them.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2013

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Footnotes

I am grateful for the valuable comments provided by Dr. Hossein Shahidi and by the anonymous reviewers.

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