Rumors of New EU Sanctions Denied

The Foreign Ministry dismissed as "inaccurate" rumors of new EU sanctions circulated by the Iranian media, triggered by the bloc's latest regular update of its non-nuclear sanctions list of Iranian people and entities.

"Describing the EU's move as a new sanctions measure is inaccurate," the ministry's spokesperson, Bahram Qasemi, wrote in a telegram message on Monday, as cited by ISNA.

The EU updated the listing of 23 people and 14 entities on its non-nuclear sanctions on Iran, reflecting amendments made to information provided by the UN.

"Those familiar with European Union's complex and multi-tiered bureaucracy are aware that decision-making in the EU is a complicated, lengthy and time-consuming process and the block does not take spontaneous decisions," Qasemi said.

"So, clearly, the EU has never considered imposing fresh sanctions on our country over the past month or the past three years. What has been promoted as a new EU sanctions by some domestic media is in fact a periodical update of a list of [non-nuclear] sanctions already in place on certain individuals and entities."

The European Union coordinated 18 months of negotiations between Iran and P5+1 (the US, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany), which led to the nuclear pact on July 14, 2015.

Under the high-profile agreement, Iran was granted relief from nuclear sanctions in return for time-bound limits on its nuclear program.

The rumors came despite the UN and EU envoys praising Iran's adherence to the deal's terms in a meeting of the UN Security Council as recently as last week.

Three months after the deal's conclusion, the EU issued a formal announcement to terminate its sanctions and the US, in a statement, committed to cancel the executive orders authorizing sanctions and cease the application of congressional sanctions.

EU and US measures did not formally take effect until January 16, 2016, when the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran had put all the nuclear curbs in place.

That verification came in an assessment report of IAEA chief, Yukiya Amano, to its board of directors that marked the closure of the UN nuclear agency's probe into Tehran's nuclear past.  

Iran denies there is a military dimension to its nuclear program, saying it is exclusively for peaceful purposes. The Vienna-based agency is now tasked with monitoring the Islamic Republic's commitments. It has released seven reports so far, the latest in early June, documenting Iran's full compliance with the pact.