The Big Headache of Scraps of Paper for the People of Iran
I said from the very first day that the sanctions are scraps of paper, and indeed they are. Just wander around Iran now and see if anyone is even sensitive to this. These phrases are among the most memorable political statements of the miracle of the third millennium, which, due to the extensive effects of economic and non-economic sanctions on the daily lives of Iranian citizens, will not be forgotten as long as these sanctions persist.
The reality is that in the past two decades, numerous and varied sanctions have been imposed on Iran, ranging from trade, monetary, and financial bans to restrictive actions in the fields of energy, transportation, and even scientific and academic collaborations. In other words, it is not an exaggeration to consider the list of Iran’s sanctions as a seventy-ton book due to their vastness and inclusiveness.
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 Iranian entities to its sanctions list, claiming their involvement in Russia’s military attack on Ukraine.
As a result, these individuals — including three major Iranian aviation companies, IranAir, Saha, and Mahan — can no longer enter the territorial domain of the twenty-seven member states of this body.
At the same time, their assets in these countries have been seized, and they lose the ability to benefit from financial resources provided by these countries.
To these, we can also add the prohibition of access to communication technologies.
An event whose least consequence is the increased cost of traveling to European countries for ordinary people and government and private institutions.
If planes belonging to these three companies land on the soil of the mentioned states, they will be immediately seized.
An important point that was even mentioned by the Minister of Roads and Urban Development is that, in a general view, 227 legal entities and 42 individuals make up the European Union Council’s sanctions list against Iran.
The structure of these sanctions is based on three foundations: human rights violations, nuclear program development, and drone and missile activities, and has been expanding for nearly a decade.
The first sanction measure of this European body was Decision No. 235, which was approved on April 12, 2011, with the claim of human rights violations in Iran, and at times, especially during the autumn 2022 unrest, its instances were increased, and so far, no action has been taken to lift them.
Sanctions related to the nuclear program were almost completely lifted following the JCPOA, but on October 17, 2023, it was decided that the remaining minor restrictions would remain in place.
Regarding drone and missile sanctions, this European body raises three different claims against Iran: supporting Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, providing military support to militant groups in the West Asia region, and violating United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216, which targets recent sanctions related to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
On July 20, 2023, the European Union Council approved Decision No. 1532 concerning this issue, and now new instances have been added to it.
This body claims that by transferring ballistic missiles and related technology and drones to Russia, Iran has played a role in violating Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and infringing on the rights of Ukrainian civilians, and the present sanctions are implemented to counter these actions.
The regime of drone and missile sanctions by the European Union Council is enforceable until July 27, 2025, and its extension is not far-fetched. However, if a decision to resort to political methods for dispute resolution is not on the agenda, we must resort to legal options to prevent asset seizures.
In the current situation, the immediate action is to refer to the European Court of Justice based on Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and demand the annulment of this sanction decision.
The wound of the $1.8 billion that was lost in the course of some Iranian assets’ case in the International Court of Justice is still fresh.
Therefore, it is appropriate for the Legal Affairs Department of the Presidential Office to take the necessary legal actions at the right time to protect Iran’s assets so that we do not suffer more losses due to a bunch of scraps of paper.
As the great Sheikh said, ‘One must find a remedy before the problem occurs; regret is of no use once the matter is out of hand.’
