The European Union (EU) confirmed on Monday that it has reinstated sanctions on Iran, following a comparable action by the United Nations (UN).
“Today, the EU reinstated sanctions against Iran in response to its continued non-compliance with the nuclear agreement. The door for diplomatic negotiations remains open,” said the EU presidency in a statement.
The EU said the sanctions included freezing the assets of the Iranian Central Bank and other Iranian banks, as well as travel bans on certain Iranian officials.
The EU was also banning Iran’s purchase and transportation of crude oil and the sale or supply of gold and certain naval equipment.
UN Arms Embargo
On Sunday, the United Nations reinstated an arms embargo and other sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme following a process triggered by European powers that Tehran has warned will be met with a harsh response.
Britain, France and Germany initiated the return of sanctions on Iran at the U.N. Security Council over accusations it had violated a 2015 deal that aimed to stop it from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
The end of the decade-long nuclear deal originally agreed by Iran, Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and China is likely to exacerbate tensions in the Middle East, just months after Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
U.N. sanctions imposed by the Security Council in resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 were reinstated at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday (0000 GMT on Sunday).
Attempts to delay the return of all sanctions on Iran failed on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. this week.
Joint Statement
“We urge Iran and all states to abide fully by these resolutions,” the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany said in a joint statement after the deadline passed.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas confirmed in a statement on Sunday that the bloc would “now proceed to implement the re-imposition of all previously lifted UN and EU nuclear-related sanctions without delay”.
Israel hailed the reimposition of sanctions on its arch foe as a “major development”, citing what it called Tehran’s ongoing violations of the nuclear programme.
(With inputs from Reuters)
.){kind=link}