Headache of torn paper for the people of Iran
The headache of torn paper for the people of Iran. I said from the very first day that sanctions are like torn paper, and indeed they are. You can see in Iran now, who is really sensitive to these expressions. One of the most memorable political statements of the third millennium is that due to the extensive effects of economic and non-economic sanctions on the daily lives of Iranian citizens, it will not be forgotten until the survival of these sanctions.
The reality is that in the past two decades, various and different sanctions have been imposed on Iran, ranging from trade bans to financial restrictions, and even restrictive measures in the fields of energy, transportation, and scientific and academic cooperation. In other words, it is not surprising if we consider the record of Iran’s sanctions as a seventy-couplet poem due to their breadth and comprehensiveness.
One of the latest sanction measures is the initiative of the European Union Council against Iran’s aviation industry. On October 14, 2024, this European body added the names and details of seven Iranian individuals and seven legal entities to its sanctions list, alleging involvement in Russia’s military attack on Ukraine.
As a result, these individuals – including three major Iranian airlines, namely Iran Air, Saha Airlines, and Mahan Air – are no longer able to enter the territories of twenty-seven member states of this entity.
At the same time, their assets in these countries are seized, depriving them of the opportunity to benefit from financial resources provided by these countries.
To these, we can add a ban on access to communication technologies.
An event where the increase in travel costs to European countries has the least impact on ordinary people and governmental and private entities.
If the airplanes belonging to these three companies land on the soil of the mentioned states, they will be immediately impounded.
Important points, which were even mentioned by the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, show that a total of 227 legal entities and 42 individuals are on the EU sanctions list against Iran.
The structure of these sanctions is based on three pillars: human rights violations, nuclear program development, and drone and missile activities, which have been expanding for nearly a decade.
The first sanction measure of this European institution was Decision No. 235, adopted on April 12, 2011, alleging human rights violations in Iran. It was added to during the autumn unrest of 1401, and so far no action has been taken to lift them.
Sanctions related to the post-JCPOA nuclear program have been almost completely lifted. However, on October 17, 2023, it was decided that brief remaining restrictions should be preserved.
Regarding the drone and missile sanctions, this European institution raises three different claims against Iran: support for Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, arming of semi-military groups in the West Asia region, and violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which targeted recent Russian sanctions against Ukraine.
On July 20, 2023, the European Union Council adopted Decision No. 1532 on this matter and has now added new instances to it.
This institution claims that Iran’s transfer of ballistic missiles, related technology, and drones to Russia constitutes a violation of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and undermines the rights of Ukrainian civilians, and the current sanctions are implemented to counteract these actions.
The regime of drone and missile sanctions by the European Union Council is mandatory until July 27, 2025, and its extension is not far-fetched at all. However, if a decision to resort to political methods to resolve the dispute is not on the agenda, we must turn to legal options to prevent asset seizures.
In the current situation, referring cash vinegar to the European Court of Justice under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is to demand the repeal of this sanction decision.
The recent loss of one billion eight hundred billion dollars in the course of the case of some Iranian assets in the International Court of Justice is still fresh.
Therefore, it is appropriate for the legal department of the Presidency to take the necessary legal actions in a timely manner to protect Iran’s assets so that we do not incur further losses due to a handful of scraps of paper.
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure, it is not profitable to act after the fact when the matter has already slipped out of hand.
