Shayan Ghajar

The European Union implemented new sanctions July 26 against Iran in response to its nuclear program. The sanctions include measures freezing the assets of forty Iranian companies in Europe, as well as halting investments in Iran’s energy sector and banning the sale of certain kinds of scientific equipment relating to nuclear or petrochemical energy to Iran.

Additionally, sanctions will require that any European company engaging in a transaction with Iran of over $52,000 must first get the deal approved by the treasury ministry of their host nation in the EU. The EU will no longer allow new Iranian banks to be formed in Europe, and bans cargo flights from Iran to the EU.

The reaction in Iranian news services has been prodigious. A wide range of state officials, from President Ahmadinejad to various ministers and parliamentarians, have spoken out against the newest sanctions against Iran on every state-owned or affiliated news agency in the country. This reaction from Iranian officials is even stronger than their response to sanctions imposed by the UN and the US Congress over the last several weeks.

Ahmadinejad himself decried the latest sanctions in the strongest terms in a speech published on PressTV: “Should you make any decisions against Iran, including ship inspections, you will see the Iranian nation’s immediate response. Everybody knows that the Iranian nation’s response will cause [the enemy to] rule the day.”

Other statements by Iranian officials took a less confrontational tone and centered on the lack of effect sanctions will have on Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the European Union’s sanctions will not have a major effect on Iran’s energy sector, but may affect Iran’s willingness to engage in negotiations over its controversial nuclear program. “Sanctions… will only complicate matters and move away [the parties] from mutual understanding,” Mehmanparast stated on the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Even Iran’s Oil Minister, Massoud Mir-Kazemi, issued a lengthy statement regarding sanctions on PressTV. The Oil Minister said Iran’s oil production will not be impacted at all by the sanctions because “one hundred percent” of Iran’s oil fields are “being exploited by Iranian companies.” The oil minister neglected to mention that significant foreign investments in these Iranian companies may be affected by sanctions, which would impair the companies’ operations.

However, Oil Minister Mir-Kazemi also pointed out that Russian investment and participation in Iran’s energy sector would continue unabated, highlighting the conundrum facing Western nations as more sanctions are levied against Iran: companies in nations such as China and Russia have little incentive to abide by American or European sanctions, and have already begun to fill the void left by the pullout of European corporations.

Meanwhile, the fact that Iran’s official English-language news agency has published well over a dozen stories pertaining to sanctions in the past 24 hours indicates that, despite the tough rhetoric, the Iranian government is apprehensive about yet another set of sanctions hampering their international trade.