8/14/2019 Efficacy of Sanctions on Oil-Exporting Countries Doubtful

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Efficacy of Sanctions on Oil-Exporting Countries Doubtful

By Erfan Ghassempour* | ID-InDepth e!sEssay

"E#$% &ID' - One of the main reasons for putting sanctions in place is to restrain the targetgo(ernment) ini(iual or group from continuing an acti(ity !hich is belie(e to be against

international peace an security+

Sanctions usually in(ol(e the restriction or ban on international trae an finance+ Oneprominent example is oil sanctions+ "hese can be impose on import or export of petroleumproucts+ %n example of the former is the sanctions impose by %rab oil-proucing countriesagainst the ,+S+ an European countries supporting Israel an of the latter sanctions by the,+S+ an European countries against Ira in .//0s an Iran+ "he other !ay of imposingsanctions in the oil inustry is to forbi foreign oil companies from in(esting in the sanctionecountry+

#a(e sanctions against oil-exporting countries reache their purpose so far1 %t first glance)history sho!s that sanctions ha(e put a lot of pressure on the countries that ha(e been sub2ect

to them) but they ha(e not influence their beha(ior+

"he main sufferers of sanctions are people rather than go(ernments) because in manysanctione countries) many people3s li(es are tie to oil) irectly or inirectly+ "he !orl hasseen the gra(e impact of oil sanctions on the people of Ira+ Sanctions force the country closeto a state of famine+

"he recent onerous sanctions against Iranian petroleum exports ha(e iminishe thego(ernment3s earnings !hich account for o(er 40 per cent of its re(enues+ Sanctions ha(eta5en a ramatic toll on Iran3s economy uring 60.6-60.7 an cause some uninteneconseuences such as the shortage of meicine+ Sanctions ha(e also plunge the country3scurrency (alue+

"he $ial has lost t!o-thir of its ollar (alue since 60..+ "his resulte in an intense inflation)!hich also impacts the people rather than the go(ernment) because it has cause inustriale(astation an layoffs that are more relate to people than the go(ernment+

Sanctions on exporting oil also are ineffecti(e from another (ie!+ Oil is a global inustry that canbe connecte to many countries from its extraction from an oil fiel to be consume as (ariepetrochemical prouctions+ Crue oil may be prouce in one country) refine in another anconsume in a thir one+ Once refine it becomes ifficult to etermine !hether the oiloriginate from a sanctione country+

%lthough sanctions ecrease the amount of oil sales of the sanctione country) an in Iran3scase) they cause Iran to be pai in goos) but it is completely impossible to ban all countriesfrom importing petroleum from an oil-exporting-sanctione country+

%fter imposing sanctions) many countries o not pay attention to them an carry on importing oilfrom the sanctione country an some others e(ae sanctions+ 8or example) an accoring toOil Price) 9some of Iran3s problems &in exporting oil' came from the un!illingness of tan5ercompanies to ris5 ,S retaliation by carrying Iranian oil:Iran therefore has bought from China.6 huge oil tan5ers) each of !hich can carry 6 million barrels of petroleum+ It !ill therefore be ina position o(er coming years to export to China an Inia !ith its o!n tan5ers;+

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en countries) particularly China are still importinglarge (olumes of Iranian crue an are repeately being exempte from the sanctions+

%lthough sanctions mae some huge multinational companies such as "otal an Eni to lea(eIran) the t!o go(ernment-o!ne Chinese companies) namely Sinopec an C?C ha(e

replace them in Iran an are no! !or5ing in t!o of the country3s largest 2oint oil fiels !ith Ira+Sinopec is !orl3s fifth largest company by income an C?C has 70 international pro2ectsaroun the !orl+

hneft has expresse its esire to ta5e part in hyrocarbon pro2ects in Iran+ "hecompany is .00-percent state-o!ne an has no nee to fear ,+S+ sanctions;+

8urthermore) accoring to The Times of India) Inia has expresse its etermination to continueto pursue its energy cooperation !ith Iran+ "he Inian refinery possesse the capacity of .AAmillion metric tons by 60.6+ "he country is emerging as a refinery hub an refining capacity

excees the eman+ "herefore) Inia nees safe an secure imports an !ill nee to importmore oil from Iran+

Other countries are in nee of Iranian crue an cannot buy crue oil from other suppliers)because their refineries are esigne to 2ust process the Iranian crue+

Ineffective

estern authorities ha(e state that oil sanctions are a tool to cut funing for Iran3s suspectepursuit of nuclear !eapons an ma5e it to cease its nuclear program immeiately) but Iran3sgo(ernment has a huge amount of har currency reser(es !orth billions of ollars !ith !hich itcan 5eep up its nuclear program for oncoming years+

"here is a consensus sanctions ha(e not) to ate) reache their ob2ecti(e of compelling Iran tohalt its suspecte nuclear program+ %ccoring to some ,+S+ officials) sanctions ha(e slo!eIran3s nuclear efforts) but this !as not their main ob2ecti(e+

ot only sanctions ha(e not reache their main purpose) they ha(e also cause many negati(ecollateral conseuences+ enneth at>man in his se(eral C$S reports for the ,+S+ Congresshas state that sanctions i not ha(e an a(erse effect on Iran3s nuclear program ecisionsan capabilities+

Sanctions ha(e reache their collateral ob2ecti(es) but many experts preict that reaching themain ob2ecti(e is almost impossible by sanctions+ %s it is state in $ussia3s foreign ministrystatement poste in 60..) Such a practice seriously obstructs a(ancement to!ar aconstructi(e ialogue !ith "ehran+ Stronger sanction pressure) !hich some of our partners seealmost as a goal in itself) !ill not encourage Iran to sit o!n at the negotiating table+

"he go(ernment3s acti(ities are not ones that coul be amage by sanctions+ "he tool shoulbe change to be proportione to the ob2ecti(e or the ob2ecti(e shoul be change to beproportione to the tool+ "he global community can ma5e a country to change its beha(ior byt!o ifferent !ays either by compelling or by persuaing it+ "he main tool for the former isimposing sanctions an the main tool for the latter is negotiation+

http://rbth.co.uk/business/2013/02/15/russia_may_develop_heavily_sanctioned_iranian_oil_22903.htmlhttp://rbth.co.uk/business/2013/02/15/russia_may_develop_heavily_sanctioned_iranian_oil_22903.htmlhttp://rbth.co.uk/business/2013/02/15/russia_may_develop_heavily_sanctioned_iranian_oil_22903.htmlhttp://rbth.co.uk/business/2013/02/15/russia_may_develop_heavily_sanctioned_iranian_oil_22903.htmlhttp://rbth.co.uk/business/2013/02/15/russia_may_develop_heavily_sanctioned_iranian_oil_22903.html

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hy o go(ernments impose sanctions e(en !hen they harm harshly the sanctione countrybut on3t ser(e the goal1 One has to in(estigate this issue in t!o periosF before an afterimposing sanctions+

Before imposing sanctions an by threatening an oil-exporting country to impose sanctions on itin the near future) the sai country !oul not bo! to them) because either it thin5s that the

sanctions may or !ill not completely harm its economy or e(en if it speculates that the sanctions!ill be harmful) its prie !ill not allo! it to change its beha(ior+

%fter imposing sanctions !hich ha(e harme the target country3s economy &such as Iran') thego(ernment leaers of sanctions imposing countries may claim that sanctions ha(e beeneffecti(e) but may continue their actions because of false prie or obstinacy+

Subseuently) although oil sanctions are (ery strong tools to put pressure on a country) thepressure oes not change the target country3s beha(ior at all+

*Erfan Ghassempour is oing