Iran Calls for a Coordinated Economic Response to Evolving U.S. Sanctions
Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Qanbari says sanctions are expanding across the economic ecosystem and urges stronger monitoring, institutional memory and freer use of free-zone capacity.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Qanbari said recent U.S. sanctions increasingly target the economic activities and infrastructure supporting Iran’s exports, payments and technology. He called for continuous sanctions monitoring, stronger interagency coordination, institutional memory and a permanent specialist body. Qanbari also argued that easing domestic restrictions could allow free zones to support alternative financial and trading mechanisms, while emphasizing that resilience measures should complement—not replace—diplomatic efforts.
## Verified facts
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Hamid Qanbari said the basis of recent U.S. sanctions has broadened to include activities in sectors such as transportation, gold, digital assets, aviation and technology. According to his remarks, participation in some of these sectors may now provide grounds for sanctioning individuals or entities, although this does not mean that all operators in those sectors are automatically sanctioned. Specific names and entities would still need to be placed on sanctions lists.
Qanbari characterized the policy shift as an effort to constrain Iran’s economic ecosystem: the transportation needed for exports, the financial channels used to receive export revenues, and the technological infrastructure supporting those activities. He argued that Iran therefore needs a detailed understanding of both the sanctions framework and the networks involved in implementing it.
He called for a permanent and comprehensive sanctions-monitoring system, greater coordination among government bodies and advance preparation for foreseeable restrictions. He also said that the Foreign Ministry has begun work on a “comprehensive sanctions map,” while noting that U.S. sanctions rules and related guidance comprise thousands of pages and require systematic institutional analysis.
Qanbari further argued that Iran lacks a sufficiently centralized, permanent institution dedicated to monitoring sanctions, reducing their effects and coordinating government responses. He also highlighted the absence of a stable professional career path for sanctions specialists, warning that expertise can be lost when personnel or structures change.
Regarding economic policy, Qanbari said domestic bureaucracy can undermine private-sector efforts even when companies are able to procure goods and move them to the border. He stated that activity in some free zones has become more difficult than on the mainland and argued that reducing restrictions could encourage private investment. He identified free zones as potential platforms for alternative payment and financial mechanisms, while referring to past experience with a secondary foreign-exchange market as an example of an institutional mechanism that could be revisited.
Qanbari also maintained that preparing for continued sanctions should not replace diplomacy. In his view, economic resilience and negotiations aimed at lifting sanctions can proceed simultaneously.
## Interpretation
The central argument is that Iran’s sanctions strategy should be treated as a continuing, system-wide policy challenge rather than as a series of isolated listings. The emphasis on transportation, payments, technology and international compliance networks suggests that vulnerabilities may arise at the connections between sectors, not only within individual companies.
Qanbari’s proposed response combines three elements: anticipatory monitoring, institutional coordination and greater operational flexibility for private businesses and free zones. His remarks imply that reducing internal administrative barriers is considered as important as developing external mechanisms for managing sanctions exposure.
The call for a sanctions map and a permanent specialist structure also points to an effort to convert accumulated experience into durable state capacity. However, the speech presents these measures as proposals or work in progress, not as completed reforms.
## Uncertainty and limitations
The account is based on an Iranian state news agency’s report of Qanbari’s remarks. It does not independently verify the scope, legal basis or implementation of the recent U.S. sanctions, nor does it identify the specific sanctions measures to which he referred. The report also does not provide evidence that proposed free-zone mechanisms have been approved, implemented or demonstrated to reduce sanctions pressure. References to the effectiveness of past exchange-market arrangements and to the potential benefits of international mechanisms are statements made by Qanbari and should be treated as policy arguments rather than independently established outcomes.