The presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013) was marked by international sanctions generally considered to be the most severe punitive measures ever adopted against Iran. Moreover, these steps, largely initiated by the US, were supported by a relatively large number of countries, first of all, by the members of the EU, which followed the example of the Americans and adopted its own unilateral sanctions against Iran. However, despite all the prognoses, Iran appeared to be able to stand up to the impact. The country's economy was damaged but not shattered. Tehran, although it was not successful in completely offsetting the negative impact of the sanctions, managed to mitigate their effect. One of the most important factors which did not allow the punitive measures of 2006-2012 to achieve their goals was the inability of the US government to deprive Iran of all external options for bypassing sanctions. This was mainly determined by the activities of Iran in the international arena: the international sanctions together with the Iran nuclear file became one of the main factors that shaped Iran's foreign policy and strategic thinking.

1. Economic Sanctions from Megara to Iran

The history of economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy goes back almost 2500 years. The first known implementation of these punitive measures by one country against another dates back to 432 BC when Athens imposed a trade embargo on the city-state, Megara. Since that date, the use of sanctions has intensified from century to century, reaching its peak in the present day due to the globalised nature of the international system. However, throughout this time, there has been no universal definition of sanctions. The most commonly used explanation of the term states that “sanctions are policy tools used by governments to influence other governments and/or firms and citizens in other nations”. Thus, in turn, economic sanctions are defined as “restrictions on commercial relations between citizens and firms of at least two countries”.

Punitive measures could be imposed by one country, a group of states or an international organization (if it has authority to do this). As a result, a disctinction is usually drawn between unilateral (imposed by one country) and multilateral (adopted by a number of states or organisations) sanctions. In some cases, a separate group is formed by extraterritorial sanctions. These punitive measures are adopted by one country against another but they also compel third states to observe their requirements.