After the withdrawal of the US from the Iran nuclear accord, the impact of sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran have been felt across the country
ADVERTISEMENTAfter the withdrawal of the United States from the Iran nuclear accord, Washington has put pressure on Tehran in a number of ways in order to get it to return to the negotiating table.
One of those ways was the imposition of sanctions against Iran, which have effectively shut it off from global business networks and their impact has been felt across the country.
"Contrary to what has been suggested about sanctions that were supposed to impact the government and not the people, we can see the consequences in the daily lives of citizens. Every day a lot of people are sliding into poverty and their purchase power is shrinking," one woman said.
Despite the efforts to mitigate the consequences of the sanctions, the measures are hurting the economy.
Many believe that the sanctions have in one way or another made the lives of ordinary people more difficult.
"Recently, we have seen prices double. But the income of citizens did not increase by more than 10-20%, while many have lost their jobs because of the economic sanctions," another man said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that sanctions aim to put pressure on the Iranian government, while experts say that the ulterior motive is to influence the Iranian people in a particular direction.
"The aim of the sanctions are to create dissatisfaction among ordinary citizens with the hope of these people coming to the streets and protesting and maybe changing the government. That's the reason behind the sanctions. So when the US says that they are exercising maximum pressure campaign, what we hear is that they're interested in regime change," said Foad Izani, professor of political communication at Tehran University.
The ratcheting up of tension between the two sides is cause for concern, despite the fact that both sides state they do not want war.
The nuclear agreement had filled Iranians with hope and joy, while the withdrawal from the accord by President Trump caused citizens to worry about the economy and fear that war could break out at any time.