Assessing the Economic Security Impacts of pre-JCPOA Nuclear-Related Sanctions on Iran

International sanctions are important factors affecting the national security of target states. The present article deals with the impacts of pre-JCPOA nuclear-related sanctions on the Iran' economic security. The main claim in the article is that following the continuation of unresolved tensions over the nuclear program and the increasing international sanctions, Iran's security was damaged because of creating economic instability, spreading economic corruption, increasing international isolation of Iran, and rising anti-government dissidents across the country. The argument is based on the realist international theory according which international sanctions are foreign policy tools of nation-states.