Iran condemns reinstatement of EU sanctions, calls for confidence-building measures instead

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham lashed out at the European Union for reinforcing sanctions on a number of Iranian companies, and urged the EU to step in line with the recent Geneva agreement between Iran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) and take confidence-building measures. Afkham’s remarks came after the European Union on Friday announced that it has placed 17 Iranian companies under sanctions again after the European Court of Justice in mid September ruled against the bans imposed by the West on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and 17 other Iranian companies. “Taking into account the Geneva agreement and the joint efforts being made to take the initial steps towards implementing it, this action (by the EU) raises question and causes surprise,” Afkham said Sunday. She called the EU sanction on Iranian firms as a "unilateral and politicized move lacking the necessary legal basis". “While firmly rejecting this move, we recommend the European Union to come in line with the orientation of the Geneva agreement and move towards reinforcement of mutual trust,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman said. On Friday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and senior negotiator in the talks with the major world powers Seyed Abbas Araqchi also condemned the sanctions, and said that the new EU sanctions are not only against the Geneva understanding, but also against the spirit of cooperation. On September 16, the European Court of Justice ruled against the bans imposed by the West on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and 17 other Iranian companies, ordering the 27-nation bloc to strike them off its list of embargoed entities. IRISL Managing-Director Mohammad Hossein Dajmar made the announcement, and said, “This big success shows the IRISL’s righteousness and also and the baselessness of the accusations leveled against it.” “After the European Union imposed its unilateral sanctions, the IRISL put revocation of the EU's illegal decisions on its agenda and eventually after months of efforts, follow-ups and holding meetings, the European Court of Justice in a verdict issued this morning (Monday, September 16) ordered revocation of the EU’s sanctions,” Dajmar said. In June 2011, the EU targeted over 30 IRISL holding companies as part of a wider sanctions campaign led by the Western states aimed mostly at forcing Tehran to curb its nuclear energy drive. In September, the European Union's top court thrown out the sanctions imposed against eight Iranian banks and companies for their alleged ties to Iran’s nuclear energy program. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that there was not sufficient evidence to justify the unilateral sanctions imposed by the bloc on the Iranian entities. Late in January, Managing-Director of Bank Mellat (the largest private bank in Iran) Ali Divandari announced that his bank has been removed from the EU's sanctions list. "After two and a half years of intensive legal work to remove the sanctions, the court declared a ruling in support of Bank Mellat," Divandari said. In August 2012, the Council of the EU reversed its decision for imposing sanctions against Divandari after the latter party filed a complaint at international bodies and sued the EU over its illegal action. A London-based Indian solicitor firm Zaiwalla & Co solicitor represented Divandari's case in the European Court of Justice to challenge the legality of the sanctions. Bank Mellat was fighting US accusations of involvement in confidential financial activities to help fund Iran's nuclear activities. The EU Council had listed Dr. Divandari in the designated list in July 2010 on the basis that it was a legitimate part of its regime of sanctions designed to stop Iranian nuclear program. He was at the time Chairman of Bank Mellat. The Council had designated the Bank Mellat and it considered it to be involved in Iran's attempts to develop a nuclear program and then went a step further, said Zaiwalla, by deciding to personally designate the Bank's chairperson too on the basis of his job title. Both the bank and Dr. Divandari challenged the sanctions in the European Courts. After a long process, both were finally given a hearing before the General Court of the European Union in May 2012. Both parties presented their cases and argued that it was not lawful to impose sanctions against private sector institutions or their employees. Iran's private sector has no role to play in the acts of the Iranian state, they argued.