UN imposes 'snapback' sanctions on a hungrier, poorer and more anxious Iran

The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran early Sunday over its nuclear programme further squeezing the Islamic Republic as its people increasingly find themselves priced out of the food they need to survive and worried about their futures After lastminute diplomacy failed at the UN the sanctions took effect Sunday at 0000 GMT 8 pm EasternThe sanctions will again freeze Iranian assets abroad halt arms deals with Tehran and penalise any development of Irans ballistic missile programme among other measures It came via a mechanism known as snapback included in Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and comes as Irans economy already is reelingIrans rial currency sits at a record low increasing pressure on food prices and making daily life that much more challenging That includes meat rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table Meanwhile people worry about a new round of fighting between Iran and Israel as well as potentially the United States as missile sites struck during the 12day war in June now appear to be being rebuiltActivists fear a rising wave of repression within the Islamic Republic which already has reportedly executed more people this year than over the past three decades Sina the father of a 12yearold boy who spoke on condition that only his first name be used for fear of repercussions said the country has never faced such a challenging time even during the deprivations of the 1980s IranIraq war and the decades of sanctions that came laterFor as long as I can remember weve been struggling with economic hardship and every year its worse than the last Sina told The Associated Press For my generation its always either too late or too early our dreams are slipping away Snapback was designed to be vetoproof at the UN Security Council meaning China and Russia could not stop it alone as they have other proposed actions against Tehran in the pastFrance Germany and the United Kingdom triggered snapback over Iran 30 days ago for its further restricting monitoring of its nuclear program and the deadlock over its negotiations with the USIran further withdrew from the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring after Israels war on the country in June which also saw the US strike nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic Meanwhile the country still maintains a stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent purity a short technical step away from weaponsgrade levels of 90 per cent that is largely enough to make several atomic bombs should Tehran choose to rush toward weaponisationIran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful though the West and IAEA say Tehran had an organised weapons programme up until 2003 Tehran has further argued that the three European nations shouldnt be allowed to implement snapback pointing in part to Americas unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 during the first term of President Donald Trumps administrationThe Trump administration appears to think it has a stronger hand poststrikes and it can wait for Iran to come back to the table said Kelsey Davenport a nuclear expert at the Washingtonbased Arms Control Association Given the knowledge Iran has given the materials that remain in Iran thats a very dangerous assumptionRisks also remain for Iran as well she added In the short term kicking out the IAEA increases the risk of miscalculation The US or Israel could use the lack of inspections as a pretext for further strikes Iran on Saturday recalled its ambassadors to France Germany and the UK for consultations ahead of the sanctions being reimposed the staterun IRNA news agency reported The aftermath of the June war drove up food prices in Iran putting already expensive meat out of reach for poorer familiesIrans government put overall annual inflation at 345 per cent in June and its Statistical Centre reported that the cost of essential food items rose over 50 per cent over the same period But even that doesnt reflect what people see at shops Pinto beans tripled in price in a year while butter nearly doubled Rice a staple rose more than 80 per cent on average hitting 100 per cent for premium varieties Whole chicken is up 26 per cent while beer and lamb are up 9 per centEvery day I see new higher prices for cheese milk and butter said Sima Taghavi a mother of two at a Tehran grocery I cannot omit them like fruits and meat from my grocery list because my kids are too young to be deprived The pressure over food and fears about the war resuming have seen more patients heading to psychologists since June local media in Iran have reportedThe psychological pressure from the 12day war on the one hand and runaway inflation and price hikes on the other has left society exhausted and unmotivated Dr Sima Ferdowsi a clinical psychologist and professor at Shahid Beheshti University told the Hamshahri newspaper in an interview published in JulyIf the economic situation continues like this it will have serious social and moral consequences she warned with the newspaper noting people may do things they would never think of doing in normal circumstances to surviveThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever