Experts say recent sanctions from the U.S. and Europe will crimp Iran's ability to sell its oil, get foreign imports, and are at least partly behind a huge spike in prices there.
Over the last few months Western governments have been tightening the economic noose around Iran.
The idea is to use economic pressure to force Iran's government to give up its nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful purposes but many think is actually intended to produce a weapon.
But sanctions can also have a huge impact on a nation's people. In Iraq, the United Nations estimated half a million children were killed by malnutrition and disease in the 1990s as a result of international sanctions and a refusal by Saddam Hussein to accept a UN program to alleviate the suffering there.
In Iran's case expert opinion varies as to just how hard sanctions will hit that economy. But there is consensus around two points: 1) It won't be as bad as Iraq. 2) It's already hurting Iranians and the suffering is bound to get worse.
"The sanctions are increasingly biting," said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an Iranian-born professor of economics at Virginia Tech. "The Iranians are having a hard time paying for things they import, and getting paid for things they export."
Tightening the oil vise: The latest round of sanctions from the United States, the UK and Europe aims to directly restrict Iran's ability to sell its oil.
They accomplish that goal largely by going after Iran's central bank, which finances Iran's 2.2 million barrels a day in oil exports, and any international bank that does business with Iran's central bank.
Iran oil sanctioned by Europe
The sanctions are supposed to allow transactions in essential items like food and medical supplies.
The problem, say experts, is that international banks become nervous and ban all transactions with the country rather than risk the wrath of the United States or Europe. Banks that are thought to be in cahoots with the Iranians might find themselves banned from doing business in the world's largest and second largest economies.
Hospitals in Iran are having a hard time getting advanced medial equipment from abroad because they can't find banks to finance the transactions, said Jamal Abdi, policy director at the National Iranian American Council.
Previous sanctions that prohibited the sale of items that can have both civilian and military uses, like airplane parts, has resulted in air disasters that have killed 1,000 Iranians over the last decade, said Abdi.
