29.09.2025 New Opinion Piece: The Strategic Failure of Iran Sanctions

A new opinion article by Mohammad Reza Farzanegan (Professor of Economics of the Middle East, Philipps-Universität Marburg) and Nader Habibi (Henry J. Leir Professor of Practice in the Economics of the Middle East, Brandeis University) has been published in Al Jazeera (28 September 2025).

The article, titled “Sanctions on Iran have been a spectacular strategic failure for the West”, argues that sanctions have devastated Iran’s middle class — the main driver of stability and moderation — while failing to achieve their intended political objectives. Drawing on their recent research, the authors show how international sanctions acted as a “misery multiplier,” shrinking Iran’s middle class and unintentionally strengthening authoritarian forces.

Read the full article here: Al Jazeera Opinion