Sanctions inflict nearly $1.2 trillion in damages on Iran, says ex-official

Sanctions have inflicted approximately $1.2 trillion in damages on Iran over the past 12 years, Hossein Selahvarzi, the former head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, has said.

In comments published on Monday in Tehran's Shargh daily, Selahvarzi discussed the economic opportunities lost in Iran due to the sanctions, News.Az reports citing Iran International.

His remarks came just days before Iran's presidential election, where a victory for a hardline candidate could potentially prolong the stalemate in Iran's nuclear negotiations with global powers.

Saying that the issue of sanctions has not received much attention during the election campaign, Selahvarzi estimated that the lost per capita income for each Iranian due to sanctions over the 12-year period is around $14,000. In other words, each Iranian has lost an average of $1,202 annually due to the sanctions.

Selahvarzi did not specify the official sources of these figures. He explained that the estimates were based on comparisons with "several countries similar to Iran." He likely compared Iran's GDP and real per capita income with the averages of these countries, attributing the differences to the impact of the sanctions.

News.Az