GAO Study Says US Embargo on Iran Is Ineffective
January 2008
In 2006, the U.S. National Security Strategy stated that the United States was facing challenges from Iran and its efforts and involvement in international terrorism. The GAO has since reviewed U.S. sanctions against Iran and the impact it has had and reviewed numerous data relating to Iran’s economy and energy sector.
After conducting research, the GAO concluded that Congress should consider requiring the National Security Council and key agencies to:
- Assess data on Iran sanctions and complete an overall baseline assessment of sanctions
- Develop a framework for ongoing assessments
- Periodically report the results to Congress
Officials did report that U.S. sanctions involving Iran has slowed foreign investment in the country’s petroleum sector, however other evidence indicates that the extent of the reported impact.
The Iranian government has signed contracts since 2003 reported at $20 billion with foreign firms to develop its energy resources. Even further reports show that sanctioned Iranian banks are funding their activities in currencies other than the dollar. Finally, Iran continues to enrich uranium, acquire advanced weapons technology, and support terrorism even after the numerous sanctions provided by the United States.
Iran has strong global ties and a leading role in energy production, making the U.S. sanctions nearly impossible to isolate Iran and reduce its support for terrorism. In some cases, studies show that Iran’s overall trade with the world has grown since the U.S. imposed sanctions, although this trade has fluctuated because of the Iran-Iraq war and the growing oil prices in 2002. This trade did include imports of weapons and nuclear technology.
Editorial comment from John Black:
Silly GAO! The US embargo on Iran is intended to accomplish 3 things:
- Make US citizens feel good that something is being done about Iran
- Make the US Congress and Government look good for doing something about Iran
- Give the US the moral high ground for doing something about Iran
If you measure the US embargo against those three objectives, it is at least successful on the first two.
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