Iran strongly condemns EU, UK sanctions on shipping lines

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned the new sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United Kingdom on several Iranian entities and individuals, including the IRISL.

The sanctions were imposed over accusations of ballistic missile transfers to Russia, which Baghaei slammed as unfounded, unjustified, and in violation of international law as well as the EU and UK’s commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear accord.

The spokesperson reiterated that the claims of ballistic missile transfers from Iran to Russia, as dismissed by Ukraine’s president himself, are baseless.

“The EU and UK’s sanctions against Iran on this pretext are entirely unjustifiable and lack any legitimacy or legal or rational basis,” he stated.

Baghaei emphasized that the EU and UK sanctions, particularly those targeting civil aviation and the latest sanctions on IRISL, affect the fundamental human rights of Iranians, are a clear example of systematic human rights violations, and hold the originators and imposers of such sanctions internationally accountable.

“Freedom of navigation and maritime trade are fundamental principles of international maritime law,” Baghaei affirmed, holding European parties responsible for breaching international law.

Baghaei also condemned the EU and UK’s interventionist policies in the legitimate and legal defensive-military relations between states.

He stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran will use all its capacities to cooperate with its partners in order to safeguard its national interests and security.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said on Monday that it had imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani, and several other entities and individuals.

It added that vessels, ports, and docks owned, operated, or controlled by those individuals and entities will be targeted by the sanctions, thereby prohibiting any transaction with them.

The EU claimed the individuals and entities have been involved in transporting Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and related technologies and components to Russia to use in the war in Ukraine.

Acting in parallel, Britain also announced fresh sanctions against Iran Monday, freezing the assets of IRISL as well as national airline Iran Air over the same allegation.

Russia launched what it called a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 partly to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion. Moscow had already warned that the US-led military alliance was following an “aggressive line.”

Iran has maintained its policy of impartiality toward the conflict.

However, the US and its Western allies have claimed that Iran is supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for direct use in the Ukraine war.

Tehran categorically rejects the unfounded accusation, saying it is the Western countries that are escalating the war through the supply of advanced weaponry to Kiev. Russia has also warned that the flow of Western arms to Ukraine is prolonging the conflict.