On Eve of Iran Election, Street Protests, New Sanctions

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. has imposed tough new sanctions on Iran, even as signs that existing sanctions are crippling Iran's economy and that on the eve of national elections Iranians are restless with the current regime.

The new sanctions impose penalties on anyone facilitating "significant" transactions in Iranian currency, or who hold large amounts of the currency outside of Iran. In 2012, the U.S. and EU placed a series of sanctions that have resulted in Iran's rial losing half its value.

The 2012 sanctions also are crippling Iran's oil industry. In May, according to industry sources, Iran's crude oil shipments dropped to 700,000 barrels a day, down two-thirds from Iran's oil exports before the current round of sanctions became effective.

On June 14 Iranians vote in a national election that to date has had none of the drama of the disputed 2009 contest which left Maxhmoud Ahmadinejad in power. Two of Amadinejad's main rivals in that election, Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest for two years.

But yesterday, according to the BBC, tens of thousands of mourners at a funeral in Isfahan, Iran's second largest city, took to the streets to chant anti-government slogans and call for the release of Rafsanjani and Karroubi. It was the largest anti-government demonstration of the election period.

U.S. and European sanctions are aimed at pressuring Tehran over its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.

EIN News, a leading media monitoring company, provides in-depth news about Iran and nuclear weapons issues via many news sections, including:

Iran News -- http://world.einnews.com/country/iran

EU-Iran Sanctions News -- http://eupolitics.einnews.com/news/eu-iranian-sanctions

Nuclear Weapons News -- http://military.einnews.com/news/nuclear-weapons

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