Sanctions Experience; A Strategy for Identifying Vulnerabilities and the Realization of Resistance Economy in the Islamic Republic of Iran

To achieve the goals of resistance economy in Iran, the first step is to identify vulnerabilities that prepare ground for the enhancement of economic independence and the reduction of negative impact exerted by other countries on Iran’s economic growth. There are some important questions about resistance economy: What are the main obstacles for the realization of resistance economy in Iran? How can we identify these obstacles? With this argument that Iran’s economic vulnerabilities are most important obstacles for the realization of resistance economy in Iran, the following hypothesis is examined in this article: In recent years, Iran’s economic vulnerabilities in terms of its dependence on foreign investment in the energy sector, its dependence on oil’s exports and imports of petroleum products, especially gasoline, are major obstacles to the realization of resistance economy. This hypothesis is examined through "secondary analysis" of the data related to sanctions. By relying on secondary analysis, economic scattered data are analyzed in relation to these three issues: 1) process of changing the nature of sanctions from symbolic to practical; 2) Iran's economic situation in the three envisioned economic areas on the threshold of the aggravation of sanctions; 3) impact of sanctions on Iran. By analyzing these data, first we will show that sanctions by focusing on the three areas of Iran’s economic vulnerability have become non-symbolic and practical. Secondly, on the threshold of the aggravation of sanctions, Iran's vulnerability and dependence in these three economic areas were intensified. And thirdly, the impact of sanctions on Iran in these three areas would lead to economic pressure. According to these statistical secondary analyzes, we conclude that Iran’s weakness and vulnerability in these three areas, that are dependence on foreign investment in the energy sector and dependence on oil exports and imports of petrochemicals, constitute a major obstacle for resistance economy. So the first step to the realization of resistance economy, in the framework of a long-term strategy, is to reduce dependence on these three areas. This article, at the end, propose pragmatic suggestions for the impelementation of this strategy.