Iran Analysis: Why "Human Rights"-Based Sanctions Threaten Tehran (Pakravan)

Rostam Pakravan writes for Muftah:

....For several years now, the Iranian government has exhibited sensitivity to criticisms of its human rights record. These concerns with Iran’s human rights image run deep, rooted in the very ideological foundations of the current regime.  The Islamic Republican Party, which carried out Iran’s 1979 Revolution, did so in the name of the mostaza’fin, or oppressed, of the world. In the years since the revolution, Iran has done its utmost to cultivate its image as a defender of the oppressed for both Arab and Muslim countries and the broader developing world.  The ultraconservative clique around Ahmadinejad is particularly committed to reviving this Revolutionary ethos.

In the last year alone, Iranian officials have exhibited their profound sensitivity to both international and domestic criticism of the country’s human rights violations, and in a few instances have even appeared to back down in the face of these pressures. Take, for example, the decision to refrain from executing a stoning sentence against Sakineh Ashtiani days after the EU protested the measure, or the government’s prosecution of Iranian official alleged to have abused and detained post-election demonstrators at Kahrizak prison, following both international and domestic outcry. While these reactionary moves hardly represent structural improvements in Iran’s behavior towards human rights, at minimum they demonstrate the government’s desire to present a more positive image of itself and, in particular, to offset damage done to its reputation following the widespread crackdowns against protestors following the disputed 2009 Presidential election.

Unsurprisingly, then, Iranian officials reacted angrily and swiftly to the September 29 human rights sanctions. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson immediately condemned the sanctions and recalled Iran’s Swiss Ambassador (Switzerland represents U.S. interests inside Iran). The Iranian officials targeted by these sanctions continue to express their anger.  On October 6, the Iranian welfare minister lashed out at the sanctions at an ISNA news conference, which had been intended to focus on the unrelated topic of subsidies reform. Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan, targeted by the sanctions for his alleged responsibility in last year’s post-election crackdown, angrily responded that “[President Obama] has no will of his own” in America’s decision-making.

In short, by regularly calling attention to and sanctioning Iranian officials for human rights abuses, the Obama Administration hits an issue upon which the Iranian government has demonstrated its relative “weakness” and tendency to make concessions.  As such, through the September 29 sanctions, the Obama Administration may be gaining a strategic advantage over the Iranian government, which could be more useful in future nuclear negotiations than economic sanctions used in the past.

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