Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 08/2013

E3+3 coercive diplomacy towards Iran: Do the economic sanctions add up?

Steven Blockmans, Stefan Waizer

June 2013

Centre for European Policy Studies

Abstract

More than ten years of international negotiations have brought no resolution to the nuclear dispute with Iran. In January 2012 the EU and US autonomously adopted an unprecedented sanctions package, mainly directed at the Iranian oil industry. Eighteen months later, figures show that the Iranian economy has been hit hard. Sanctions have not changed the regime’s calculus, however. Instead of further upping the pressure on Iran, the authors argue for a return to a more balanced dual-track approach so as to reinforce the moderate narrative within the Iranian ruling elite.