text: Carter presidency United States President Carter imposed sanctions against Iran in November 1979 after radical students seized the United States Embassy in Tehran and took hostages, after the United States permitted the exiled Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment.  froze about US$8.1 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits, gold and other properties. It also imposed a trade embargo. The sanctions were lifted in January 1981 as part of the Algiers Accords, which was a negotiated settlement of the hostages’ release.
  Reagan presidency
  United States President Ronald Reagan imposed an arms embargo in 1983 on Iran, including United States military spare parts to the military during the Iran–Iraq War (1981–1988).
  An embargo on Iranian goods and services was imposed in 1987 in response to Iran's actions from 1981 to 1987 against the United States and other vessels in the Persian Gulf and because of Iran's support for terrorism.
  Clinton presidency
  United States President Bill Clinton imposed some of the toughest sanctions against Iran in March 1995, during the presidency of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in response to the Iranian nuclear program and Iranian support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad, that are considered terrorist organizations by the United States under , to prohibit the United States from trading in Iran's oil industry. In May 1995 Clinton also issued  to prohibit the United States from trading with Iran. Trade with the United States, which had been growing since the end of the Iran–Iraq War, ended abruptly.
  Iran and Libya Sanctions Act