Thursday 26 January 2012

Following two months of increased tensions between Iran and the international community over its controversial nuclear program, the European Union moved ahead Monday 23 January with an extension of sanctions. Following similar measures taken by the United States earlier in January, the 27 foreign ministers of the EU agreed to impose restrictions on interactions with different sectors of the Iranian economy: transport, finance, and, most notably energy. The press release following the January 23rd meeting stressed that these sanctions “are aimed at affecting the funding of Iran's nuclear programme by the Iranian regime and are not aimed at the Iranian people”.

The decision of the EU foreign ministers, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on January 24th, provisions the immediate prohibition of all new purchases of Iranian oil by EU member states. A transition period, that is scheduled to last until July 1st 2012, will allow for previously agreed upon oil deals to be fulfilled.

Greece had reportedly tried to extend the duration of this transition period by another six months. Athens imports considerable amounts of its oil from Iran, and has repeatedly expressed its concerns that such an embargo could jeopardize the already difficult economic recovery the country is currently going through. The 27 pledged to support Greece should this decision harm the Greek economy. Other major oil producing countries, mostly in the Persian Gulf, are said to be ready to make up for the roughly 600,000 barrels of crude oil the EU imports each day from Iran.

The United States welcomed the European decision, and are continuing efforts to persuade Asian countries, notably India, to decrease the volume of Iranian oil they import. President Obama stressed in his State of the Union Address, on January 24, the determination of the U.S. to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, stating, “no options [are] off the table”. An American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, returned to the Gulf on January 22nd with an escort of 5 warships, including French and British vessels. She will meet up with the Carl Vinson, in replacement of the John Stennis, which left recently left the area. Iranian Army chief Ataollah Salehi had warned earlier this month against the return of an American carrier in the Gulf.

Russia condemned the European decision, calling for a prompt resumption of negotiations. A statement from the Foreign Ministry called the move by the EU “a deeply wrong policy”.

In Iran, several officials again referred to the possibility that the Islamic Republic reserved the right to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian Parliament is expected to hold an emergency session on Sunday 29 January in order to discuss a bill that would suspend all oil deliveries to the EU as early as next week. Ali Fallahian, former Intelligence Minister of Iran and member of the Assembly of Experts, declared: “The best way is to stop exporting oil ourselves before the end of this six months and before the implementation of the plan”.

Accédez directement aux nouvelles publications en ligne du CESIM :

"Sanctions and Weapons of Mass Destruction in International Relations", Geneva Papers, IGGS, N°16, July 2010

"Eliminer les menaces nucléaires, à propos du rapport de la Commission internationale sur la non-prolifération et le désarmement nucléaires (ICNND)", entretien avec M. François Heisbourg, par Benjamin Hautecouverture, Chargé de recherche, 19 janvier 2010

"Challenges and Prospects of the Global Regime of Nuclear Non-proliferation", Interview with Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, by Benjamin Hautecouverture, Research Fellow, November 26, 2009

"A Possible International Regime to Cover radiological Materials",  Research Paper for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), Benjamin Hautecouverture, Research Fellow, CESIM, October 2009

"Nuclear Stockpile Management. A Technical and Political Assessment", Research Paper for the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), Bernard Sitt, director of CESIM, and Camille Grand, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), October 2009