Prioritization of the Impacts of Oil Sanction on the National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Ever since the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, it has been regarded as one of the most important sources of national income. After the Islamic Revolution, the issue of oil has still been considered essential in regard to Government income. Thus, the enemies of the Islamic Revolution have attempted in different periods to sanction its oil to affect the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, thereby weakening Islamic Iran. Despite the repetitive emphases on non-oil export, the Iranian oil industry is still regarded as an important national industry thereof. In recent years, this industry has not been exempted from the storm of comprehensive sanction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, aimed at by the sanction attacks of the United States of America and the European Union. The researchers sought to investigate the impacts of oil sanction on the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a focus on its main aspects including the military, political, economic, cultural, and social ones. In the first step, therefore, the positive and negative impacts of the sanctions were simultaneously identified and enumerated based on comments by experts in the field. They were prioritized in the second step using the analytic hierarchy Process (AHP), adopted for optimal utilization of the available facilities, time, and resources. Emphasizing the obtained priorities, the results of the research could guide many politicians and managers in that regard. It was demonstrated that the economic aspect of national security has been affected most by oil sanction, and the issues of inflation rise and budget deficit were weighted more by the expert comments than all the other national security aspect subcomponents.