Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environments provide a key framework for analyzing the dynamic conditions of contemporary business landscapes. Western economic sanctions against Iran, as a multidimensional strategic threat, represent a prominent example of such environments, confronting the country's economy with profound challenges. This qualitative research, employing a case study approach, presents an integrated framework for transforming the threat of sanctions into strategic opportunities within a VUCA context. This theoretical innovation fills a gap in the strategic management literature, which has primarily focused on the negative impacts of sanctions and paid less attention to systematic processes for converting threats into opportunities. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 experts (senior managers, policymakers, and university professors) and analysis of credible documents, and examined using thematic analysis. The findings identified three main themes: intra-organizational mechanisms (technological innovation, strategic agility, domestic brand development), extra-organizational mechanisms (economic diplomacy, strengthening regional collaborations), and contextual factors (enhancing specialized human capital and developing an innovation ecosystem). This study demonstrates that, despite the challenges, economic sanctions can lead to self-reliance, resilience, and competitive advantage through the activation of these mechanisms. The proposed framework aligns with global studies by Bennett and Lemoine (2014) and Teece (2012), offering practical guidance for policymakers and managers in strategically managing dynamic environments, and holds potential for generalization to other sanctioned countries.