Iran Braces for UN Sanctions as Economy Falters
As Iran’s ailing economy braced Saturday for the reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, ordinary people increasingly find themselves priced out of the food they need adn worried about their futures. Iran’s rial currency already sits at a record low, increasing pressure on food prices and making daily life more challenging, including access to meat, rice, and other staples.
Simultaneously occurring, concerns are rising about a potential new round of fighting between Iran and Israel – and potentially the United States – as missile sites struck during the 12-day war in June now appear to be rebuilt. Activists fear a rising wave of repression within the islamic Republic, which has reportedly executed more people this year than in the past three decades.
Sina, a father of a 12-year-old boy who requested his last name be withheld for fear of repercussions, said the country has never faced such a challenging time, even during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and the subsequent decades of sanctions.
“For as long as I can remember, we’ve been struggling with economic hardship, and every year it’s worse than the last,” Sina told The Associated Press. “For my generation, it’s always either too late or too early – our dreams are slipping away.”
Iran sanctions set to ‘snapback’ Early Sunday at 0000 GMT (8 p.m. Eastern), barring any last-minute diplomatic breakthrough, U.N. sanctions on Iran will be reimposed through “snapback,” a mechanism negotiated into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Snapback is designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. Security Council,meaning china and Russia cannot stop it alone.
The measure will again freeze Iranian assets abroad,halt arms deals with Tehran,and penalize any growth of Iran’s ballistic missile program,among other measures.
France, germany, and the United Kingdom triggered snapback over Iran further restricting monitoring of its nuclear program and the deadlock over its negotiations with the U.S.
Iran further withdrew from International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring after Israel’s war on the country in June, which also saw the U.S. strike nuclear sites in the islamic Republic. The country still maintains a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90% – that is largely enough to make several atomic bombs, should Tehran choose to rush toward weaponization.