[20171129]IN10829_伊朗扩大与亚洲的经济关系.pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Irans Expanding Economic Relations with Asia name redacted Analyst in International Trade and Finance name redacted Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs November 29, 2017 Overview Since multilateral sanctions on Iran were lifted in January 2016 under the Iran nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), foreign firms have begun to resume business with Iran. Iranian leaders seem to be counting on expanded economic ties with the major East Asian economies to help Iran emerge from the years of international sanctions, diversify its economy away from reliance on hydrocarbon products, and become a regional trading hub. Expanding ties with Asia is politically easy for Iran because the major Asian countries remained engaged in Irans economy even during the 2010-2016 multilateral sanctions regime (see CRS Report RS20871, Iran Sanctions). East Asian Economic Engagement with Iran As top Iranian oil customers, China, Japan and South Korea played a key role in escalating energy sanctions against Iran. Their reductions of Iranian oil purchases (to earn a U.S. sanctions exemption for “significantly r