ABSTRACT
In a constrained economic context in which sanctions have limited the extension of Iran’s commercial networks at a global level, Tehran has concentrated its efforts on developing relationships at a regional level. The international economic sanctions imposed from the early 1980s were reinforced in the early 2000s, although the July 2015 accords could potentially lead to those sanctions being progressively lifted. In the early 2000s these sanctions further increased the difficulties Iranians faced when it came to travelling to Western countries. The sanctions regime also led Iranians to prefer, by ‘default’, the construction of a free trade area in the surrounding region, which is the focus of this chapter.
