“…In the case of Iran, there are several studies on how international sanctions influence the formal economy (Gharibnavaz & Waschik, 2018; Laudati & Pesaran, 2021), informal economy (Farzanegan, 2013; Farzanegan & Fischer, 2021; Farzanegan & Hayo, 2019; Zamani et al, 2021), household welfare and women employment (Demir & Tabrizy, 2022; Farzanegan et al, 2016; Khabbazan & Farzanegan, 2016), government expenditures and revenues (Dizaji, 2014; Farzanegan, 2011), militarisation (Dizaji & Farzanegan, 2020; Farzanegan, 2022), trade (Dizaji, 2019; Haidar, 2017; Shirazi et al, 2016), finance (Torbat, 2005) and firm entry (Cheratian et al, 2021). However, the case of persistent approaches of SMEs under sanctions, which was amplified in 2020 by the COVID‐19 pandemic, has not yet been investigated for Iran.…”