How to Unwind Iran Nuclear-Related Sanctions

On June 16, 2014, the Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force hosted the report launch of two papers outlining options for unwinding nuclear-related sanctions against Iran —a key element of any long-term agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program.


Authors Kenneth Katzman and Cornelius Adebahr discussed US and EU sanctions, respectively, looking at the evolution of sanctions over the past decade and the most feasible path to providing meaningful relief in the event that Iran agrees to significant curbs on its nuclear program.

“Easing US Sanctions on Iran ,” by Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Service, examines actions the United States could take to wind down sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic beginning with the 1979 revolution and ratcheted up over the past decade as a means to deter the development of Iran’s nuclear program.

pdfRead “Easing US Sanctions on Iran” (PDF)

In a companion piece, “Easing EU Sanctions on Iran,” Cornelius Adebahr of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace notes that European sanctions relief must be coordinated with the United States in order to ensure that European businesses can return to the Iranian market without fear of facing so-called secondary sanctions by US authorities.

pdfRead “Easing EU Sanctions on Iran” (PDF)

Related Experts: Barbara Slavin and Shuja Nawaz