Targeted sanctions are an improved version of sanctions that directly target elite interests and specific individuals. Flexible and amenable to adjustments, they can be combined with other policy instruments, and are not likely to cause widespread humanitarian damage. Using tools such as financial sanctions, asset freezes, travel bans and arms embargoes, targeted sanctions can achieve the purpose of coercing targets into changing their behaviors, limiting the ability of targets, and sending messages to the international community.Since the 1990 s, sanctions imposed by the United Nations and regional organizations have been targeted sanctions. Although the UN and regional organizations have no official written guidelines on how to jointly implement sanctions, they have developed a mutually supportive relationship in the practice of sanctions, usually in the form of cooperation, coordination and assistance. Since their objectives are the same or compatible, the UN and regional organizations can coordinate their actions although they make decisions independently. They can complement each other by developing an orderly division of labor. The case of the UN and the EU jointly sanctioning Iran fully reflects the above characteristics. The reason why the UN and regional organizations are mutually reinforcing in the practice of sanctions lies in the fragmentation of global governance mechanisms and the development of regional organizations. The global legitimacy of the United Nations and the effective implementation of regional organizations complement each other and can effectively maintain the stability of the international order.