What Iran will really do with its sanctions relief windfall

By Eric Lob November 4 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/11/04/what-iran-will-really-do-with-its-sanctions-relief-windfall/

Critics of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal continue to assert that sanctions relief will primarily be used for nefarious purposes by the Iranian government. They claim the windfall will be used to improve Iran’s military capabilities and increase support for proxies, fomenting instability in the region and raising the prospects for conflict between the United States and Iran.
However, past and recent statements and policies by the Iranian government indicate it will apply sanctions relief more to the economy than the military or proxies.
Sanctions relief will allow Iran to reconnect to international financial markets, import previously restricted goods, expand export markets and receive greater foreign direct investment (FDI). Estimates of the sum of unfrozen assets range from $30 billion to $180 billion in an economy valued at approximately $400 billion. Analysts have not only tried to project the deal’s exact windfalls but also to what ends they will be used and to what extent they will alter Iran’s regional conduct.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/11/04/what-iran-will-really-do-with-its-sanctions-relief-windfall/