[jasonzemos]

These sanctions are designed to foster resentment in Iranians toward their government. The seeds of this resentment are already blossoming in the post-Iran/Iraq war generation developing these apps. This generation is simply not capable of conforming to the religious zeal required of them by the ayatollahs, sanctions or not. The days are numbered for the velāyat.

The funds received by an Iranian civilian entrepreneur are still open to subjugation by the government. Without these funds, it will be more difficult for this government to destabilize neighboring states, blackmail the Sunnis across the gulf, and energize Hezbollah in their explicitly stated goals to genocide the Jews.

[atemerev]

It doesn’t work this way. Iranian government use every mean of propaganda available to them to amplify the effects of sanctions on the civilian population, and make sure that everyone thinks that the US is to blame. Sanctions that touch civilians is the gift for propaganda.

To the US credit, they were much more careful with applying sanctions to Russia: I am Russian (who lives abroad and doesn’t support our current government), and despite sanctions, I still can get the US visas, open a Github account, publish apps in App Store etc. I am really lucky I am not Iranian. I can’t do anything about the current government, Russia is not exactly a democracy, even if they maintain the motions and visibility of it.

[tremon]

These sanctions also make it impossible for Iranians to live their lives away for their government's supposed zeal. People trying to evade their government's yoke depend on external channels. Cut off these channels, and you only increase their dependence on their government.

The funds received by an Iranian civilian entrepreneur are still open to subjugation by the government.

So it's like civil asset forfeiture?