Ranking the Economic Sanctions Against the Islamic Republic of Iran Using Selected Opinions from Activists and the Graduates of International Economics

One of the most important political and economic dangers of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the discussion of sanctions imposed on it. Having a broad insight into these sanctions and prioritizing them in order to find the best strategies is essential. In this article, via an extensive study on the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran, an appropriate ranking of sanctions was done to take appropriate measures according to their degree of effectiveness. The sanctions studied are those imposed from the time of the Islamic Revolution of Iran until now. They include US sanctions, UN Security Council sanctions and EU sanctions. By compiling a questionnaire and referring to the views of 15 experts in the field of economic sanctions, 8 general criteria and 48 sub-criteria related to the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran were developed. In order to rank and obtain results, the Triangular Fuzzy Hierarchical Analysis Method was employed within the MATLAB software. The results of this article showed that, among the eight main criteria, oil, gas and petrochemical sanctions and financial and banking sanctions had the most economic consequences. Furthermore, among the 48 sub-criteria identified in this article, the ban on the purchase of Iranian oil and gas by the European Union in 2012 and the ban on the provision of financial services by international organizations and banks, such as Swift, by the EU in 2012, are priorities and have a greater impact. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt appropriate economic and political policies in accordance with this classification.