Abstract. The article considers the problem of external validity of sanctions as a tool to influence the state based on the principles of Shia Islam and self-reliance. The Obama administration significantly increased the political component of pressure in an attempt to find the “pain points” of the regime of the Islamic Republic. One of such points is a threat to be isolated in relation to such powers as Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China. In 2010, Tehran de facto started to use nuclear factor to log into the world politics. Therefore, the “atomic diplomacy” of Iran turned to be a rather unexpected result of the tightening of foreign sanctions. In this situation the West led by the USA embarked on a strategy of escalating sanctions as the most important instrument of pressure on Tehran. Finally, the system of sanctions was formed at the following levels: the restrictions imposed by the UN Security Council (resolutions of 2006–2010); the sanctions imposed by several groups of countries (EU and others); the unilateral sanctions of certain countries (USA). The evaluation of the effectiveness of sanctions is very difficult as far as Iran does not publish relevant information. So the only plausible assumptions can be made through the analysis of the bilateral trade and economic relations of Iran with other countries. Generally, the example the Islamic Republic of Iran which was under foreign sanctions since 1979 shows that only after the introduction of tiered sanctions, created the system of multivector effects on the Iranian economy, the sanctions’ impact has become a fairly significant factor that influenced the position of the Iranian leadership on the nuclear issue.