Iran 2019-2020: The double impact of crippling sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Two main external developments marked the years 2019 and 2020 in Iran: the unilateral sanctions re-imposed by the United States in late 2018 after abandoning the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the COVID-19 Pandemic that had its first case in Iran in February 2020. The heavy burden represented by the combination of both situations severely affected Iran’s economy, its domestic policies and its foreign relations.