Overview of Trump-Era Sanctions Imposed on Iran from 2017
Beginning in 2017, the Trump administration initiated a sweeping “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Iran, drastically expanding and enforcing economic and financial restrictions that had been eased under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement. This campaign unfolded in several key phases: initial tightening of controls on Iran’s missile program and aviation sector, followed by the formal U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, and then two major waves of reimposed sanctions targeting sectors such as oil exports, banking, metals, shipping, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Notable tranches were enacted in August and November 2018, culminating in extensive bans on Iranian oil exports, financial transactions, and trade in critical industrial sectors. The sanctions designated hundreds of individuals and entities and aimed to choke off both Iran’s domestic resources and its engagement with the global economy.
Official Reasons and Justifications for Imposing the Sanctions
The Trump administration articulated its rationale primarily as a response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile development, and its support for militant and terrorist groups harmful to U.S. interests and regional stability. The policy was designed to cut off funding that allegedly enabled Iran’s destabilizing activities across the Middle East, prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, and compel Tehran to accept stricter conditions on its nuclear and security policies. Administration officials consistently stated that the overarching goal was to deter adversarial behavior, constrain Iran’s influence, and pressure its government to negotiate a more restrictive nuclear agreement or change course. Sanctions targeted the Iranian government, but the administration recognized—and, in some instances, seemed to intend—that these pressures would be felt by ordinary Iranians as a means to generate internal discontent and drive political change.
Key Sectors Targeted and Scope of Economic Restrictions
The reimposed sanctions focused on crucial pillars of Iran’s economy, including its oil and petrochemical exports—historically the largest sources of national revenue—the banking sector, international shipping and aviation, and the steel, iron, copper, and aluminum industries. Financial institutions and the Central Bank of Iran were blacklisted, denying Iran access to global financial systems and the U.S. dollar, which crippled its ability to engage in legitimate international transactions. Sanctions were also leveled against enterprises and individuals linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program and the IRGC, with additional penalties on companies in other countries conducting business with these Iranian entities.
Pre-existing Hardships and Vulnerabilities in Iranian Society
Long before the Trump-era sanctions, Iranian society was already beset by economic stagnation, chronic inflation, high unemployment rates—especially among youth and university graduates—and persistent weaknesses in healthcare and infrastructure. Years of earlier sanctions, internal mismanagement, state dominance over the economy, and restricted access to capital and technology had left vital sectors such as industry, medicine, and public welfare under considerable strain. The healthcare system, while offering broad insurance coverage, grappled with financial constraints, uneven distribution of resources, and increasing reliance on imports for both advanced pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
Inflation, currency volatility, and poverty had already undermined living standards, and the legacy of war, regional intervention, and international isolation contributed to an ongoing sense of crisis. The private sector was weak, hindered by state and quasi-state competition, while ordinary citizens faced rising costs and declining economic opportunity. Entry-level wages failed to keep pace with living costs, and social safety nets were under strain.
How Trump-Era Sanctions Magnified the Suffering of Ordinary Iranians
Economic Recession and Currency Collapse
The renewed and intensified sanctions tipped Iran’s fragile economy into a deep inflationary recession. The Iranian rial lost around two-thirds of its value, decimating savings, causing the price of essential goods to soar, and eroding the purchasing power of ordinary people. GDP growth became sharply negative, with the economy contracting by at least 6% in some years, and inflation estimated at over 30–40%, doubling food and daily living costs for many. Oil revenues, which had briefly rebounded after the JCPOA, plunged from about 2.5 million barrels per day to less than 0.5 million, crippling government finances and reducing spending on social programs and infrastructure.
Unemployment rose steeply as factories and companies dependent on imports, currency stability, or export revenues shuttered or downsized dramatically. The resulting job losses hit both skilled professionals and blue-collar workers, further hollowing out the middle class and worsening poverty rates.
Scarcity and Skyrocketing Cost of Essential Goods
Restricted access to foreign exchange and international trade caused severe scarcities of basic commodities. The cost of food, housing, and other daily necessities increased, while formerly accessible products became unaffordable or unavailable. People reduced consumption, turned to inferior local substitutes, or, in desperation, resorted to the black market, which flourished in the regulatory vacuum. Substandard and unsafe products proliferated as underground production increased, posing direct physical hazards—from faulty car parts to counterfeit drugs.
Healthcare Under Siege: Medicine and Equipment Shortages
Despite formal humanitarian exemptions, broad financial and banking sanctions strangled Iran’s ability to finance and import essential medicines, medical supplies, and equipment. International banks, fearful of secondary U.S. sanctions, refused to facilitate even sanctioned humanitarian transactions, cutting Iran off from suppliers of vital goods. Hospitals and pharmacies reported shortages of life-saving drugs, particularly those needed for rare diseases, cancer, epilepsy, and other chronic conditions. Patients faced not only scarcity but also sharply higher prices for imported drugs and equipment, as well as the risk of severe side effects from lower-quality or unregulated alternatives.
Medical professionals warned that the ability of Iran’s healthcare system to absorb shocks was reaching its limit, risking catastrophic breakdown for the most vulnerable populations, such as children with cancer or patients with rare diseases. Specialized treatments and foreign-made medications for cancer, epilepsy, or genetic conditions became harder to find, leading to suffering, acceleration of diseases, and—in some cases—avoidable deaths.
Aviation Safety and Transport
The sanctions extended to Iran’s aviation sector, blocking the import of aircraft, spare parts, and safety equipment for commercial airlines. The country’s fleet of aging airplanes became increasingly hazardous, contributing to numerous fatal crashes and eroding public safety in transportation. These risks predated the Trump-era measures but were sharply magnified by the new restrictions, further endangering both routine travel and medical evacuations.
Educational and Financial Hardship
Restrictions on international banking isolated Iranians from many global services. Students studying abroad or seeking to pay tuition in foreign universities faced insurmountable obstacles transferring funds, having to choose between abandoning their studies or resorting to risky solutions. Others, such as patients needing care overseas or families needing remittances, experienced similar barriers.
Psychological, Social, and Political Consequences
The cumulative effect of these hardships was a pervasive atmosphere of despair and uncertainty, with many Iranians losing hope for improvement as daily life became more unpredictable and insecure. Reports indicated a rise in anxiety, depression, and social disengagement, particularly among the middle class. Though some of the poorest were shielded to an extent by social welfare programs, austerity and inflation undermined even residual safety nets, while the wealthiest leveraged their resources and political connections to access favorable exchange rates or import channels.
Impact on Pre-existing Vulnerabilities
Crucially, nearly every hardship aggravated by the Trump-era sanctions had underlying roots in longstanding weaknesses. Before 2017, Iran’s economy was already under stress from years of partial sanctions, underinvestment, inefficient state control, and lagging productivity. Healthcare struggled with chronic shortages, resource misallocations, and bureaucratic bottlenecks. Unemployment was a persistent issue despite modest improvements after the JCPOA, and basic goods were often subject to volatile pricing and supply disruptions. The Trump-era “maximum pressure” campaign thus took a society already stretched thin and compounded every point of fragility, pushing multiple systems to or beyond their breaking point.
Aspects of Life Most Severely Hurt
The dimensions of suffering most pronounced under Trump-era sanctions can be summarized as follows:
Economy and Employment Weak growth, high inflation, persistent unemployment Deeper recession, currency collapse, unemployment spike, business shutdowns
Healthcare Access Resource shortages, underfunding, reliance on imports Acute shortages, medicine/equipment scarcity, price surges, invisible humanitarian cost
Food and Basic Goods Inflation, limited imports, irregular pricing Soaring prices, scarcity, black market reliance, nutritional insecurity
Air and Transportation Safety Aging fleet, import restrictions on parts Increased air safety risk, more crashes, worsening emergency logistics
Education and Financial Transfer Bureaucratic hurdles, limited foreign funding Students unable to pay tuition, remittance disruption, international isolation
Social/Psychological Wellbeing Hopelessness, protests, coping with sanctions Widespread despair, mental health burden, emigration, increased dependence on welfare
Conclusion: Exacerbation of Suffering and the Human Cost
In summary, the reimposed and expanded sanctions imposed by the Trump administration beginning in 2017 were designed to coerce policy change at the state level but had the most profound and damaging tangible impact on ordinary Iranian citizens. By constricting access to international markets, freezing the flow of critical goods and resources, and undermining both government capacity and individual livelihoods, these measures deepened pre-existing weaknesses across the economy, healthcare, and other sectors. The result was a wave of suffering characterized by job losses, rising poverty, deterioration in health and safety, and widespread psychological distress. While problems in these sectors long predated the maximum pressure campaign, U.S. sanctions unmistakably escalated and intensified the hardships faced by millions of Iranians.
