Do Sanctions Work? A Conversation on Iran and Beyond, August 13 in Brooklyn

Ask two Iranians whether U.S. sanctions should stay or go and you will often get two answers that cannot both be true. One says maximum pressure is the only leverage that has ever moved the Islamic Republic. The other says broad economic sanctions land hardest on the people with the least power to change anything, and that the pressure belongs on senior officials and the IRGC instead.

Both arguments usually come from people who want the same outcome.

That disagreement is the subject of this month’s Payandeh Perspectives. On Thursday, August 13, 2026, Mohsen Farshneshani, founder and principal attorney of Sanctions Law Center, joins Payandeh for a public conversation titled “The Sanctions Question: Do They Work? Lessons from Iran & Beyond.” The event runs 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern at Mayday Space in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Anyone outside New York can watch the livestream.

RSVP for the August 13 conversation to attend in person or online.

Event Details

The RSVP form asks for a name and email, whether you plan to attend in person or virtually, and whether you want to join Payandeh’s mailing list. It also has a field for questions and accessibility requests. Put anything you want the conversation to address there.

Why the Sanctions Question Splits the Iranian Diaspora

Sanctions are still one of the most contentious issues among Iranians, and the disagreement is rarely about facts. It is about which harms a policy is allowed to cause on the way to its goal.

The maximum pressure position treats economic isolation as the one form of leverage that has produced concessions from Tehran. The opposing position accepts that the leverage is real and argues that the cost falls on the wrong people: importers of medicine, families sending money home, students, small businesses that never had a political role to begin with. That camp would rather designate named officials, IRGC commanders, and the entities they control than restrict an entire economy.

Most of the public argument gets made in slogans. This conversation goes past them. It takes up what the historical record and existing scholarship say about how well sanctions and export controls actually work in the context of liberation, and what they cost when they do work. It also looks beyond Iran, at how sanctions have been applied in other countries and what those cases show about producing political change without wrecking civilian life.

Where the Legal Machinery Meets the Political Argument

Much of the sanctions debate treats “targeted” and “broad” as political labels and nothing more. They are also legal categories with specific mechanics, and the mechanics are where good intentions tend to break down.

Designation and blocking. When the Office of Foreign Assets Control adds a person or company to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, all of their property in U.S. hands is blocked and U.S. persons generally cannot deal with them. That is the targeted instrument.

The 50 Percent Rule. A targeted designation does not stay narrow for long. Under OFAC’s 50 Percent Rule, an entity owned 50 percent or more, directly or indirectly, by one or more blocked persons is itself blocked, whether or not OFAC ever names it. So a single designation of an IRGC-linked holding company can sweep in subsidiaries nobody has listed. A measure aimed at officials ends up reaching the payroll beneath them.

Humanitarian authorizations. Sanctions programs carry general and specific licenses meant to keep food, medicine, and medical devices moving. Whether they work in practice is another matter. Banks make their own risk calls, and a transaction that is perfectly lawful can still fail to clear because no institution wants to touch it. Our clients run into that gap constantly.

Reversals. Relief can also be undone faster than anyone can plan around it. In 2026, OFAC issued Iran General License X authorizing dealings in Iranian oil, then revoked it roughly two weeks later with General License X1. Anyone arguing that engagement should replace coercion has to reckon with how quickly an opening closes.

The mechanics set the terms the political argument has to be made in, even if they do not settle it. That ground is what the August 13 conversation covers.

About the Speaker: Mohsen Farshneshani

Mohsen Farshneshani is an attorney and policy advocate working on sanctions and economic statecraft reform. He is the founder and principal attorney of Sanctions Law Center, where his practice covers OFAC compliance, licensing, SDN delisting, enforcement matters, and sanctions advocacy.

He argues for U.S.-Iran trade diplomacy: economic engagement as an alternative to coercion, and as a way to empower Iranian society and create conditions for peaceful change. Much of his career has been spent working with Iranians and members of the diaspora who live with the everyday consequences of broad sanctions.

The firm’s advocacy practice helps civil society organizations turn grassroots demands and policy objectives into targeted sanctions recommendations, in jurisdictions including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and the European Union. Most people never see that part of the work. A designation recommendation with the right evidence attached is a different document from a petition, and the difference decides whether a regulator can act on it at all.

Who Should Come

The conversation is built for a general audience, not a room of lawyers. It is worth your time if you are:

• An Iranian or Iranian-American who argues about sanctions with family and wants better footing
• Working at an NGO or advocacy organization weighing whether to recommend designations
• A journalist, researcher, or student covering Iran policy, sanctions, or export controls
• A business owner or compliance professional whose transactions touch Iran-related restrictions
• Someone who follows U.S. foreign policy and wants the mechanics behind the headlines

How to Attend

RSVP through the Payandeh form and pick in person or virtual. In-person attendance is at Mayday Space in Bushwick, Brooklyn; virtual attendees get livestream access. Use the questions field on the form to submit what you want addressed. Audience questions shape an evening like this more than a prepared talk does.

For questions about the event itself, contact Payandeh at payandeh_nyc@proton.me or on Instagram at @payandeh_nyc.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I attend the August 13 sanctions conversation if I am not in New York? Yes. Payandeh is running a livestream alongside the in-person event at Mayday Space. Select the virtual option on the RSVP form and the access details come by email.

Is this a legal seminar or CLE? No. It is a public conversation for a general audience about whether sanctions achieve their political objectives. Nothing said at the event is legal advice, and it carries no CLE credit. A specific OFAC problem belongs in a consultation, not an event Q&A.

What is the difference between broad sanctions and targeted sanctions? Broad or comprehensive sanctions restrict dealings with a country’s economy as a whole. Targeted sanctions name specific people and entities, usually by adding them to the SDN List, and block their assets. In practice the line between the two blurs, because ownership rules like the 50 Percent Rule extend a designation to unnamed subsidiaries.

Does Sanctions Law Center help organizations submit designation recommendations? Yes. The firm’s sanctions advocacy practice works with civil society organizations and NGOs on evidence-backed recommendations for new designations in several jurisdictions.

If Sanctions Are Already Affecting You

This event is about policy. A designation aimed at you will not wait for the policy debate to resolve.

Blocked assets, an addition to the SDN List, a bank sitting on a frozen transfer, a lawful transaction that needs an OFAC license before it can go through: each of those comes with procedures and deadlines attached. Sanctions Law Center works on SDN List removal, unblocking applications, and OFAC licensing from Washington, DC, and New York.

Call +1-202-888-9011 or request a consultation to have someone look at your situation.