This chapter will review two dimensions relating to the international sanctions regime against Iran. Firstly, it will elucidate the reasons why the latest round of sanctions has had a more pronounced negative impact on the country, and, secondly, it will evaluate their repercussions on Iran’s domestic politics. In answering the first question, it is important to examine what made the most recent round of sanctions different from the sanctions which preceded them. Looking at post-2006 sanctions on Iran, two key issues can be identiied: the US’s relative success in persuading most of Iran’s key economic partners, both in Europe and Asia, to join the sanctions regime, and the Iranian government’s record of macroeconomic mismanagement. A combination of these two phenomena has clearly been the key driver behind the greater impact of the most recent round of sanctions. With regard to the second question, an assessment of the domestic political, economic and social impact will serve to evaluate the effect of sanctions and how the Iranian authorities have responded to the economic and societal pressures that these have generated.