The economic blockade of Iran is nothing new for the people, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said Monday.
“We have been under economic blockade since the beginning of the revolution. Now there is no room for any leniency with traitors,” Ejei said.
Israel is preparing for two months of heightened risk following the reimposition of UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Israel Hayom reported Monday.
“There is concern in that the Islamic Republic, like a ‘wounded animal,’ will misread Israel or try to lash out amid economic distress,” Israel Hayom wrote.
With the snapback clause in force and new economic restrictions marking the end of the nuclear accord, Israeli officials fear Tehran could miscalculate under pressure and initiate an attack, the newspaper said.
“Today, the Council agreed to reimpose a number of restrictive measures in relation to Iran's nuclear proliferation activities, that had then been suspended with the entry into force of the Joint Plan of Action (JCPOA or Iran nuclear deal) in 2015,” the Council of the EU said in a press release.
The decision followed the reintroduction of UN sanctions after the Security Council declined to extend relief, triggered on August 28 when France, Germany and the United Kingdom (the E3) said Iran was in “significant non-performance” of its commitments.
The Council said the measures include both UN Security Council sanctions adopted since 2006 and EU autonomous measures. They cover:
- Travel bans and asset freezes for listed individuals and entities, and a prohibition on providing funds or economic resources.
- Economic and financial sanctions, spanning trade, banking and transport.
- Trade restrictions, including bans on imports and transport of Iranian crude oil, natural gas, petrochemical and petroleum products; the sale of energy equipment, gold, precious metals, diamonds, certain naval equipment and software.
- Financial sector measures, including freezing assets of the Central Bank of Iran and major commercial banks.
- Transport restrictions, reinstating measures to bar Iranian cargo flights from EU airports and prohibit maintenance or servicing of Iranian cargo aircraft or vessels carrying prohibited materials.
The Council stressed these steps followed earlier commitments. “In October 2015 the Council adopted declaration 2015/C 345/01 lifting all EU nuclear-related sanctions in accordance with the JCPOA and stressing that the EU would reintroduce sanctions in case of significant non-performance by Iran,” it said.
E3 says Iran left no choice
On Sunday, the E3 foreign ministers said Tehran’s breaches had left no alternative. “We welcome the re-instatement since 20:00 EDT on 27 September of Resolutions 1696, 1737, 1747, 1803, 1835, and 1929 after completion of the snapback process,” they said. “We urge Iran and all states to abide fully by these resolutions.”
The ministers accused Iran of “exceeding all limits on its nuclear program” since 2019, noting it held enriched uranium “48 times the JCPOA limit” and at least 10 significant quantities of highly enriched uranium outside of monitoring. “Iran has no credible civilian justification whatsoever for its HEU stockpile,” they said.
They insisted diplomacy remained possible. “The reimposition of UN sanctions is not the end of diplomacy. We urge Iran to refrain from any escalatory action and to return to compliance with its legally binding safeguards obligations.”
Tehran says no obligation to comply
Iran rejected the move outright. “The Islamic Republic of Iran rejects the claim of the three European countries and the United States regarding the return of previous resolutions that ended under Resolution 2231 in 2015, and emphasizes that no obligation is created for UN member states, including Iran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
It added: “Any attempt to revive terminated resolutions is legally baseless, morally unacceptable and logically flawed.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi separately wrote to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Sang Jin Kim, saying the alleged return of sanctions was “null and void.”
He urged them “to prevent any attempt to revive the sanctions mechanisms, including the Sanctions Committee and the Panel of Experts.”
Araghchi accused the Europeans of “defaulting on their commitments, misusing the JCPOA dispute settlement process, and even justifying military attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran.”
Tehran said all nuclear-related restrictions under Resolution 2231 must expire on October 18, 2025. “Iran will not recognize any effort to extend, revive or enforce them after that,” the ministry said.
The European Council is reinstating a wide range of restrictive measures against Iran after the UN sanctions snapback triggered by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The decision followed the Security Council’s refusal to extend the lifting of sanctions under Resolution 2231.
“Today, the Council agreed to reimpose a number of restrictive measures in relation to Iran's nuclear proliferation activities, that had then been suspended with the entry into force of the Joint Plan of Action (JCPoA or Iran nuclear deal) in 2015,” the Council said in a press release on Monday.
The statement confirmed that the restored measures include “both those adopted by the UN Security Council since 2006 with successive UNSC resolutions and automatically transposed into EU law, and EU autonomous measures.”
The sanctions target individuals and entities with travel bans and asset freezes, alongside prohibitions on making funds or economic resources available to them.
Economic and financial restrictions will again apply to trade, finance, and transport. “In addition to the arms export ban to Iran and the ban on transfer of any items, materials, goods and technology that could contribute to Iran’s enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and ballistic missile programs, the measures also include bans on imports, purchase and transport of crude oil, natural gas, petrochemical and petroleum products and related services,” the Council said.
The sanctions extend to “the sale or supply of key equipment used in the energy sector, the sale or supply of gold, other precious metals and diamonds, certain naval equipment, [and] a ban on certain software.”
Financial penalties include “the freezing of assets of the Central Bank of Iran and of major Iranian commercial banks,” the Council added.
Transport restrictions were also reinstated. “The EU is reinstating measures to prevent access to EU airports of Iranian cargo flights, and to prohibit the maintenance and service of Iranian cargo aircraft or vessels carrying prohibited materials or goods,” the Council noted.
Withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the possible pursuit of an atomic weapon will be examined by the parliament’s National Security Committee in coordination with other branches of the state, presidium spokesman Abbas Goudarzi said Monday.
“The snapback mechanism lacks legal standing; there is no JCPOA left for a mechanism to operate under.”
“The Islamic Republic has adhered to all its commitments while it is the United States and these European countries that breached theirs and did not respect any of their obligations,” Goudarzi added.
