The European Union has re-imposed sanctions on an Iranian bank and 32 shipping companies on Wednesday using new legal grounds. The regime of sanctions on Iran is far from over.
“Coming days after Iran and six major powers reached a framework agreement to end a long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, the EU’s move is a signal that the 28-nation bloc will keep up sanctions pressure on Iran until a final nuclear deal is sealed,” Reuters reported.
The EU’s second-highest court annulled an EU asset freeze on Bank Tejarat and 40 Iranian shipping companies in January. In its reasons for restoring the asset freeze on Bank Tejarat, the EU said the bank “provides significant support to the Government of Iran by offering financial resources and financing services for oil and gas development projects.”
The shipping firms were all listed because they were owned by the Iranian regime’s shipping lines, which were previously put under sanctions.
Just last month the EU stepped up its sanctions against Syria in response to the crackdown by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s regime.
EU Council headquarters that it had slapped travel bans on seven more people, and frozen both their assets and the assets of six more “entities” – usually banks. The statement said that, “as the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, the Council has reinforced EU restrictive measures against sponsors of the Syrian regime.”
If sanctions can be put on Syria, based on its repression of its people, an argument can be made for the same to happen in Iran, nuclear deal or no deal.
