Financial embargoes are coercive diplomatic tools, and their main objectives are multifaceted, aiming to pressure a target nation or entity into altering its behaviour without resorting to direct military conflict.

The primary objective is to cripple the economic foundations of the target. By severing access to international financial systems, capital markets, and trade, an embargo aims to deplete the foreign reserves and revenue needed to fund objectionable policies, such as weapons proliferation, acts of aggression, or human rights abuses. This economic strain is intended to create internal pressure for change.

A second, crucial objective is to impose tangible costs on the ruling regime. By freezing the assets of key leaders, state-owned enterprises, and supporting elites, the embargo directly targets those in power, undermining their financial interests and ability to sustain their rule. This makes continuing the proscribed behaviour increasingly expensive.

Finally, financial embargoes seek to contain and isolate a regime. By cutting it off from the global economy, they aim to limit its international influence and prevent it from strengthening its military or economic capabilities. Ultimately, the overarching goal is to compel a change in policy through economic suffocation, forcing the target to the negotiating table where diplomatic solutions can be pursued.