The EU has banned oil imports from Iran to try and pressure the regime into making concessions over its controversial nuclear program. But even though the Iranian economy is suffering, Tehran is refusing to give ground.

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards are profiting from the sanctions.

There is no question that Iran's economy is already suffering under the sanctions currently in force. Unemployment and inflation have soared in recent months, while the currency, the Iranian rial, has lost 40 percent of its value against the US dollar within a year. This affects the Iranian middle class in particular. Ironically, it is the regime itself that benefits from the sanctions policy.

The Western restrictions on trade are forcing Iranian companies to resort to illegal means to do business with other countries, whether it be delivering banned goods to Iran via the smuggling routes across the Persian Gulf or through front companies abroad that facilitate transactions between Iranian and Western firms. The multi-tentacled Revolutionary Guards and the companies that they control are involved in most of these transactions. They are prepared to turn a blind eye to smuggling in exchange for payment. In addition, the Revolutionary Guards, who are the military and economic backbone of the regime, also control the Iranian black market in Western goods and foreign currency.

[link to www.spiegel.de]