US sanctions to hit Iran’s metals industry, a major employer

By NASSER KARIMI and MEHDI FATTAHI
May 9, 2019

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — U.S. sanctions have targeted Iran’s government, its paramilitary forces and the oil exports that fund them. Now they are hitting its vital steel, aluminum, copper and iron industries.

The new sanctions, imposed as Tehran announced its partial withdrawal from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, seem to be moving ever closer to directly affecting the country’s 80 million people, rather than the leadership. The metals industry is a major employer and a rare bright spot for Iran’s anemic economy.

Many Iranians already feel the vise squeezing ever tighter around the country, which has caused its currency, the rial, to depreciate rapidly and push the price of nearly everything beyond the reach of ordinary consumers.

“I don’t think (the U.S.) can, or wants to fight Iran ... because wars are no longer a thing,” said Ahmad Hashemi, who sells steel products like sheet metal and beams in southern Tehran. “Nowadays, wars are economic wars. Look at these sanctions. It’s so easy.”

U.S. President Donald Trump issued his executive order Wednesday announcing the sanctions. That came just after Iran threatened to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels in 60 days if European leaders fail to negotiate new terms of the nuclear deal to protect Iran’s ability to trade on the global market.

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