EU unveils raft of sanctions on Iran

Iran Times International July 30, 2010:by Warren L. Nelson

The 27 member states of the European Union imposed new sanctions on the Islamic Republic Tuesday. The new sanctions go far beyond the sanctions voted by the United Nations several weeks ago—but they are nowhere near as stiff as the American sanctions that have been in effect since 1995. The EU sanctions will not stop European states from continuing to buy Iranian oil and thus continuing to provide the Islamic Republic with its main source of funds. The new EU rules do bar any European investment or technical aid to Iran’s oil and gas exploration, refining, liquefaction and liquefied natural gas sectors. Mark Fitzpatrick, who works on Iran issues at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Reuters, “Most of the sectors that have been targeted are ones over which Europeans have substantial leverage.… Few countries can supply technology for liquefied natural gas.” The new sanctions also impose stiff financial restrictions, barring insurance for Iranian firms and forbidding Iranian bond sales in Europe. Iran has been marketing bonds in Europe this summer and planned more sales in the fall. That will now be stopped. Such financial services are largely confined to Europe, North America and Japan so that sanction does not threaten to lose much market for Europe. Canada imposed its own sanctions Monday. They appeared to run parallel to the EU sanctions. Japan, however, has not. The EU seems to be assuming that Japan will not dare to try to move into markets being vacated by the Europeans. Most surprising, the EU has barred all Iranian cargo aircraft from European airports. Passenger flights are still permitted. And cargo carried on passenger aircraft will also be permitted, which may be a significant loophole. The new sanctions also forbid the sale of any equipment or technology that could contribute to uranium enrichment even if there is a dual use. While the list of banned articles has still to be published, this would appear to significantly increase the list of embargoed articles. Until now, many goods the United States has argued could help Iran’s nuclear program have been sold to Iran because they also had another use apart from nuclear. The EU is now banning those articles. The sanctions list also contains some fluff, such as forbidding the issuance of visas to a number of named Iranian officials, mainly those linked to the Pasdaran. Two days before the sanctions took effect, President Ahmadi-nejad threatened swift retaliation for any EU measures aimed at Iran. “Experience shows that such a reaction by the Iranian people will cause remorse to it [the EU].” He said anyone joining the Americans in their anti-Iran agenda would be viewed as “hostile” by Iran and treated as such. Russia objected to the new EU sanctions, just as it earlier objected to the new round of American sanctions. The Russians have argued that no one should impose stiffer sanctions than those approved by the UN Security Council. The Russians say the goal of sanctions is not to punish Iran but to pressure it to come to the negotiating table and compromise on its nuclear program. The EU said that was its goal. In a statement, the 27 foreign ministers said, “The aim of the EU is to achieve a comprehensive and long-term settlement which would rebuild international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, while respecting Iran’s legitimate rights to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.” The sanctions were not without controversy in Europe. But the main opposition was not that the sanctions might hurt individual Iranians. Rather the main concern was that European firms might forever lose sales in Iran and that Iran might retaliate for sanctions.. For example, the Hamburg-based German daily Die Welt said, “These penalties leveled against Iran are not without risk. The Europeans are pulling out of a lucrative market that could also be of utmost significance for the energy supply of the EU. Furthermore, Iran plays an important role as a regional power in the conflict regions of Afghanistan and the Middle East. The question of Afghanistan cannot be resolved without Iran.”

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