Sanctions won’t dampen Iran’s defense capacity
By Ebrahim Beheshti
Staff writer
The West, spearheaded by the United States, has an insatiable appetite for sanctioning Iran. Regardless of whether the numerous sanctions they have slapped on Iran over the years have borne fruit in terms of achieving their desired outcome, namely a shift in Tehran’s conduct, they persist in beating the drum for mounting pressure on the Islamic Republic.
Over the weekend, the US House of Representatives passed new sanctions targeting Iran as part of the foreign aid package to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. If the bill is greenlit by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden, Iran will face fresh sanctions.
During a meeting yesterday, EU foreign ministers deliberated on the prospect of imposing further sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran’s recent military strike on Israel.
In a previous instance following an online meeting of the Group of 7 leaders to assess Iran’s retaliatory attack against Israel, the foreign ministers of the group voiced their readiness to collectively impose more sanctions on Iran.
Despite already imposing the harshest sanctions on Iran, Western nations are gearing up to apply even more pressure, hoping that these measures will prompt a shift in the Islamic Republic’s policies.
US sanctions imposed by former president Donald Trump as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, as highlighted in a report by Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur, have resulted in human rights violations and significant harm, particularly affecting patients suffering from certain diseases.
However, these sanctions have not succeeded in influencing Iran’s policies. This was evident in Iran’s recent military action in retaliation against Israel, showcasing that not only has the deterrence capability of the Islamic Republic remained intact but has also been bolstered.
Addressing possible European sanctions, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, “If they proceed with such actions, they are rewarding an aggressive regime and engaging in illegal actions against a state that is solely operating within the bounds of international law to establish deterrence against an aggressive regime that flouts international regulations.”
He added, “Should the European Union take such a step, it will be deemed illegal and a shameful blot on the EU’s history. Any country endorsing these sanctions will be remembered for supporting and adhering to sanctions lacking legal and legitimate grounds from an international perspective.”