Embargo, Iran and the Sanctions

November 1979: The United States impose their first embargo on Iran in response to staff at their embassy in Tehran being taken hostage.

Today, relationships between Tehran and Washington continue to deteriorate and the Iranian economy is suffering under the weight of US sanctions. Inflation, unemployment, trafficking of medicines, and ration coupons – the Iranian people are paying a heavy price. But how do the Iranians survive under the heavy burden of this embargo? And just who is benefiting from it?

From Washington to Tehran, via Brussels, Paris, and Tel Aviv, this geopolitical documentary takes us behind the scenes of this shadow war and retrace the deployment of the US sanctions on Iran since they began. With testimony from political leaders and economics experts from Europe, Iran, and America, along with extensive archive footage, this film questions the political effectiveness of these sanctions and reveals the input they are having on diplomacy and trade today.