Baku, Azerbaijan, August 4
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's ambassador to the Republic ofAzerbaijan Mohsen Pak Ayeen says the U.S.government and companies have suffered the highest amount of loss as a result of imposing sanctions against Iran.
In an interview with Trend on August 4, Pak Ayeen referred to statistics of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), saying that the U.S.was the biggest loser among all other countries after imposing the sanctions.
Pak Ayeen added that the U.S. has suffered between $134.7 billion and $175.3 billion from 1995 to 2012 as a result of the sanctions. He added that the figure are just related to industrial exports of the U.S. to Iran and does not cover losses related to the exports of other materials, and the rise in oil prices, as well.
"Taking other potential export losses into account, the figure will be much higher than this. For instance, exports of agricultural crops, such as wheat, corn, and rice to Iran have not been taken into account."
He enumerated human losses of the U.S.sanctions on its economy, saying that between 51,000 and 66,000 jobs have been lost per year in the U.S. as a result of imposing sanctions against other countries. In 2008, between 214,657 and 279,389 job positions have been vacant in the U.S., he added.
"Europe has suffered twice as much as the U.S. loss between 2010 and 2012 as a result of the sanctions. Germany was the biggest loser, with $23.1 billion and $73 billion loss from 2010 to 2012.Italy and France ranked the next with $13.6 billion to $42.8 billion loss, and $10.9 billion to $34.2 billion loss, respectively."
Pak Ayeen also said that the decline in the exports of U.S. agricultural products (wheat, corn, and rice) toIran was a result of imposing sanctions by different U.S. entities, such as the Congress, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Treasury, and the Ministry of Commerce. Economic losses of theU.S. to its human resources, energy, and investment sectors are undeniable, he added.
On June 14, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) published a report relating to the economic losses of the U.S. as a result of Iransanctions. The report was prepared by NIAC experts, namely Jonathan Leslie, Reza Marashi and Trita Parsi.
According to Trend, the U.S. was the leading trading partner of Iran before the 1979 revolution in Iran. Germanywas in the second position.
In 1978, the U.S. had 16 percent share of total exports to Iran, while in spring 2014, U.S. exports to Iran amounted to just $20 million, accounting for 0.17 percent of total exports to Iran, according to customs reports.
In 1978, the U.S. exported $3.7 billion goods to Iran and imported $2.9 billion goods from the country. In spring 2014,Germany exported just $416 million goods to Iran, accounting for 4.6 percent of Iran's total imports. Instead, the United Arab Emirates,China, and India accounted for some 58 percent of Iran's total imports of $12.4 billion in spring 2014.