Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find out whether under sanctions, Iran’s trade direction has shifted from Europe (trade policy of de-Europeanization) toward Asia (trade policy of Asianization). Design/methodology/approach The paper conducts three panel data estimations (FE, RE, and FMOLS) based on the gravity model approach for bilateral trade patterns between Iran-25 EU members and Iran-25 Asian countries over the period 2006-2013. Findings The empirical evidence indicates a significant negative effect of sanctions on Iran-EU bilateral trade, while it has a positive impact on trade between Iran and the Asian countries. These findings empirically confirmed that the imposition of various sanctions related to the Iran’s nuclear program has pushed the foreign trade policy of this country toward Asianization and away from Europeanization. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to examine the Iran’s trade policy changing under the imposition of sanctions related to its nuclear program.

Abstract:Exploring the short-run and long-run relationships between consumption of various sources of non-renewable energy, economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions would be considered as a golden key to provide rational energy policies of Iran in the post sanctions era. The aim of this paper is to find these mentioned relationships by using the Johanesen cointegration approach, the VECM Granger causality test, Generalized impulse responses functions and variance decomposition in Iran for the period 1966-2013. The findings support evidence for the existence of long-run linkage between non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and CO 2 emissions. The short-run relationship examination proves the causality running from non-renewable energy consumption to economic growth in Iran. The variance decomposition highlights that economic growth changes are explained more by gas consumption than by consumption of other non-renewable energy resources. Furthermore the contribution to CO 2 emissions is mainly from oil consumption. The study recommends some new policy insights for Iran in order to reach a higher economic growth by non-renewable energy resources, while lower carbon dioxide emissions.