This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013.

I'm Caleb Brown.

The current set of sanctions on Iran, while they may harm the regime there also harm average people and by

pushing Iranians into gray and black markets sanctions can empower some of the

worst elements in Iran. Justin Logan, director of Policy Studies, at the Cato Institute offers his thoughts.

Well, what is the rationale for sanctions on Iran?

What's interesting because it's sort of shifted over time. Several years ago when these really wound up,

I mean, you can go all the way back to 1996

with the Ilsa, the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act,

if I'm remembering the acronym correctly.

But in any event, these wound up initially,

particularly five or six years ago,

targeting individuals involved

intimately in the Iranian nuclear program itself. involved intimately

nuclear program itself.

Front groups cover firms that were involved in procuring

materials involved, intimately involved, inherently involved in Iran's uranium enrichment

program.

And over time, without really any public discourse or debate about it, they've moved to trying to collapse the Iranian

economy.

And if you ask people on Capitol Hill, is the purpose of our sanctions policy to collapse the

Iranian economy. They'll sort of squirm and say no you know we want to create

...