Economic Terrorism from the Perspective of International Law
Keywords:
Economic Sanctions, International Human Rights Law, Economic Terrorism, Iran, United StatesAbstract
The use of sanctions as a familiar concept in the literature of law and international relations within the foreign policies of states is not a new phenomenon. Since at least the period following the First World War, sanctions have been employed as a powerful instrument of state foreign policy. The purpose of economic sanctions is to exert pressure on a country or its governing authority in order to compel compliance with a particular behavior or course of action. Unilateral sanctions imposed illegitimately by one state against another may, under certain circumstances, be regarded as economic terrorism. This emerging form of terrorism can be defined as “a comprehensive, extensive, or organized unlawful and illegitimate economic sanction that poses a threat to human life, causes pain and suffering, fear and intimidation, or violates the fundamental rights of individuals, with the objective of compelling a state or an international organization to perform or refrain from performing a particular act.” This article seeks, through an examination of the consequences and implications of unilateral United States sanctions against Iran, to investigate whether economic sanctions may be considered a form of economic terrorism from the perspective of international law. Based on the findings of this descriptive-analytical study, economic sanctions that are implemented on a widespread or organized scale, endanger the lives and health of civilians, and generate fear and intimidation may be classified as economic terrorism. Accordingly, it is necessary for the crime of economic terrorism to be defined as an international crime, giving rise both to individual criminal responsibility for the person or persons responsible and to the international responsibility of the state concerned.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Yousof Hamzakhani (Author); Peyman Bolouri (Corresponding author); Mehdi KhoshKhati (Author)
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