US President Donald Trump is bringing back sanctions on Iran and is threatening to extend the sanctions to European companies that do business there. The Iran announcement came in the same week that the USA announced more sanctions on Venezuela, ahead of controversial elections later this month. Since coming into power, President Trump has used economic sanctions as a weapon of choice. But do sanctions actually work? And how do they affect businesses trading with the countries concerned? Ed Butler is joined by a panel of experts to discuss what to expect as the US grip tightens over the economies of countries it is in conflict with.



(Picture: An Iranian woman walks past a mural on the wall of the former US embassy in Tehran on May 8, 2018. Photo credit:ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)



Contributors: Elizabeth Rosenberg from the Center for a New American Security. Former Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where she helped to develop and implement financial and energy sanctions.

Nigel Kushner, specialist sanctions lawyer, CEO of W Legal.

Professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director of Harvard's Center for International Development. Former Minister of Planning of Venezuela.



Producer: Audrey Tinline