The tense status quo that prevails after the latest attacks and reprisals between Israel and Iran has brought a momentary relief to an international community terrified by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. But the situation is too precarious and volatile to let our guard down. Hence, the EU is also preparing to give its approval this Monday to the expansion of sanctions against Iran after the United States and the United Kingdom, which on Thursday announced new restrictions against the Tehran regime.
Community and diplomatic sources are practically certain that the Foreign and Defense Ministers meeting this Monday in Luxembourg will approve the extension of the sanctions imposed from 2022—after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine—on Iran for the production and transfer of drones. to Moscow, to also include the missiles. It is a measure long demanded by several Member States, which accuse the Commission of having “dragged its feet” for too long on this matter, an extreme that Brussels rejects.
At the same time, a political agreement should be reached to extend these restrictions also to other places in the Middle East and thus punish the sending of Iranian drones or missiles to non-state entities allied with Tehran in the region, such as the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon or the pro-Iran militias in Iraq.
To do this, they have the explicit mandate of the heads of State and Government of the Twenty-seven, who at their extraordinary summit in Brussels last week agreed that the EU “take more restrictive measures against Iran”, especially in matters of “air vehicles”. unmanned [drones] and missiles”, with the explicit purpose of contributing to “de-escalation and security in the region”.
Although the issue has been on the table for some time, no one expects senior European officials to reach an agreement for now on a third proposed sanction: including the Revolutionary Guard on the EU list of terrorist organizations. It is a step already taken by Washington and also demanded by some European States. But among the Twenty-seven there are still doubts both about whether this step can be legally taken (which first requires a national decision in this regard, that is, that a court in one of the EU countries declare it a terrorist organization), and if – and That is the main thing—it is convenient to give it and thus close even more the narrow channels of dialogue with Tehran.
A senior community source indicated on the eve of the meeting in Luxembourg that, in any case, it would be a “symbolic gesture, without practical consequences”, because the Revolutionary Guard is already included in all other EU sanctions regimes against Iran. “We already have them on the list for weapons of mass destruction and human rights violations. So the main consequences have already been underway for years,” he stressed.
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In any case, extending sanctions is now considered a strong “political message” after the unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel in the early hours of April 13. The international community, which calls for restraint from all parties, hopes to make it clear to the Tehran regime that it will not allow it to set the region on fire. A message that the United States and the United Kingdom already sent on Thursday, when they announced new sanctions against several military organizations, individuals and entities involved in Iran's drone and ballistic missile industry.
The threat of European sanctions is not new music for Tehran. The Iranian regime has been under different regimes of European restrictions for years, both due to the human rights violations and abuses committed especially within its borders – and reinforced since the repression of protests after the death of the young Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022—as well as for its “military support for Russia” and its “nuclear proliferation activities.”
Following the sanctions related to the Russian war in Ukraine, Iran is the country with the most people and entities on which the EU has imposed restrictions: a total of 473 financial sanctions and 283 travel bans to European territory are currently in force, affecting 284 individuals and 189 entities.
The US, tough on Iran since 1979
The battery of sanctions against Iran is the most extensive and punitive that the United States maintains against any country. Thousands of individuals and entities, Iranian and foreign, have been affected by them since Washington began penalizing the Islamic Republic in 1979 to force it to release those captured in its Embassy in Tehran during the hostage crisis. Since then, and following the ups and downs of an almost constantly hostile relationship, punishments have been extended against nuclear activities, violations of human rights and the manufacture and sale of weapons contrary to what is contemplated in international law. And, now, against Iran's bellicosity towards Israel.
The United States blocks all Iranian assets on its soil and prevents almost all types of trade between this country and Iran, except for food, agricultural materials, drugs, medical equipment and other humanitarian products. It also prohibits foreign assistance and arms sales.
Its sanctions have as one of their main objectives the Iranian energy sector – one of the great pillars of the national economy – and foreign companies that invest or buy in that industry. But they also punish the financial sector and the central bank, as well as various sectors of its economy, including shipping, construction, mining, textiles, automotive and manufacturing. They also penalize Iranian government officials and the arms trade.
Washington attributes the pressure exerted by the sanctions to the fact that Iran agreed to sign in 2015 the multilateral treaty known as JCPOA, or Joint and Comprehensive Plan of Action, by which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program and subject it to international inspections in exchange for the withdrawal of Western sanctions related to its nuclear activities.
The pact was blown up with the arrival of Republican Donald Trump to the White House, who in 2018 reimposed all the revoked sanctions and added new ones, in what his Administration described as a “maximum pressure policy” to force Tehran to comply. negotiate a much stricter agreement. The Iranian regime never sat at that table.
Under Democrat Joe Biden, Washington has imposed new sanctions against hundreds of Iranian entities for their role in illicit arms sales, violence against protesters and other human rights violations, the transfer of military hardware to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, and the illegal detention of US nationals. To which are added those imposed this week against the drone industry, the automotive sector and individuals as punishment after the attack against Israel.
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