News

Three months after Iran came under renewed international sanctions, the signs of unease are not hard to detect in the country, with Iranian reformers increasingly worried about the future of the country's economy.

According to Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, former Iranian president and the head of the country's Assembly of Experts, the reinforced economic sanctions against the country "are no joke" and are the worst the country has experienced since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, former Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi saying much the same thing.

For her part, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pointed out that the sanctions are doing what they were supposed to do, namely hurt Iran's banking system and development prospects.

The question remains, however, of how far the new sanctions are in fact harming the country. Iran has already suffered from nearly 30 years of sanctions, and even though it is an oil- rich country it has long had to import 40 per cent of its gasoline needs from abroad because it does not have enough refineries.