EU reimposes sanctions on Iran after ten years; rejects Tehran’s nuclear drive

Brussels – Freezing of Iranian bank assets held in European banks, a ban on doing business, restrictions on travel and movement for people, and restrictions on the movement of goods. The European Union is launching sanctions against Iran in response to the ayatollahs’ regime’s intentions to resume its drive towards uranium enrichment and nuclear power for non-civil purposes. It is a return to the past, following a normalization process with Tehran that began in 2024, with the first partial suspension of restrictive measures, which was then extended in 2015 and ultimately resulted in their complete cancellation. Moreover, the EU announced the new hard line after the measures taken by France, Germany, and the UK in late August.

Banks, trade, and transport: EU sanctions

The EU Council does not merely align itself with the decisions taken at the UN. It also adopts autonomous and all-European restrictive measures, starting with the freezing of the assets of the Central Bank of Iran and major Iranian commercial banks. Alongside these financial sanctions, the EU intends to reinstate measures to impede access to EU airports for Iranian cargo flights. It also wants to prevent the maintenance and service of Iranian cargo aircraft or cargo ships.

In addition to restrictions on trade in goods, the Twenty-Seven enacted a trade clampdown that includes a prohibition on exports of weapons to Iran and a ban on the transfer of any items (materials, goods, and technology) that could be useful for uranium enrichment activities. Additionally, there are bans on the import and transportation of crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, and petroleum products and derivatives, as well as a restriction on the sale or supply of key equipment used in the energy sector. Furthermore, there is a ban on the sale or supply of gold, other precious metals, and diamonds. Finally, the EU placed restrictions on the sale of information programmes and naval equipment. 

The Danish EU Council Presidency has made it clear that the decision taken does not affect the continuation of the peaceful and diplomatic path pursued so far: “The doors for negotiations remain open” is the message to Tehran.

Iranian nuclear power, when Trump dashed hopes for stability

 Relations between the EU and Iran experienced a period of rapprochement in 2013, when an Iran nuclear deal was already within reach, and this trend continued in 2015, when the government in Tehran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the international community. The understanding allowed the presence of international inspectors in Iran to verify that the country did not equip itself with the atomic bomb. It was a new season of normalisation of relations between the Islamic Republic and the rest of the world, and in particular the West, which saw the cancellation of European sanctions as one of its high points.

 https://www.eunews.it/2023/01/16/ue-accordo-nucleare-iraniano-non-e-morto/ 

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the JCPOA agreement, disavowing the actions of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and laying the groundwork for new regional and global instability. The EU attempted to replace the US, save the JCPOA, and become the guarantor of world peace. However, despite the efforts made first by Federica Mogherini and then by Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who succeeded each other over time, relations with Tehran unravelled once again due to a move seen by the Iranian government as a betrayal of the West. 

The Biden administration was unable to mend rifts that had become irreparable and were unlikely to improve under the new Trump administration. In the meantime, the EU has taken a clear, albeit questionable position: Israeli attacks on Iran, “justified” by the Jewish state for the ayatollahs’ activity on uranium, were not condemned, unlike Russian attacks in Ukraine. A double standard that did not please Tehran, which ended up on the EU blacklist anyway for its role in the war in Ukraine.