Iran-EU Talks on Hold, After EU Slaps Fresh Sanctions on Iran

The spokesman for the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that Iran is considering counter-sanctions to the European Union in response to new bans imposed on several Iranian individuals and entities while suspending all talks with the bloc in various fields.

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Saeed Khatibzadeh made the remarks on Monday after the European Union announced it had imposed sanctions ranging from travel bans to asset freezes on eight Iranian individuals, including the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, and three prisons on baseless human rights-related grounds.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is considering reciprocal sanctions in reaction to the EU’s measure, whose details will be announced later,” the spokesman said, and added, “Iran strongly condemns this measure and considers it as lacking any credibility.”

“Without a doubt, such measures have no value as they have been taken by false preachers of human rights, who have remained silent based on political motives and only expressed regret in the face of the violation of Iranian people’s rights under inhumane and illegal US sanctions, and even agreed to them,” Khatibzadeh said.

"In reaction to this EU measure, the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran stops all comprehensive talks with the European Union, including human rights discussions, as well as all forms of cooperation emanating from those talks, especially in the fields of terrorism, illicit drugs, and refugees," Khatibzadeh said.

These events came on the heels of recent talks extended for four days between Iran representatives and the remaining parties to a landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This latest round of talks on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ended with no tangible result in Vienna. The talks included officials from the U.S. government present in the venue but not included in the conversations, per Iran's request.

Last December, Iranian lawmakers strongly condemned the European Parliament's resolution that criticized Iran under the guise of protecting human rights and threatened to take reciprocal action. As many as 225 parliamentarians released a statement on December 20, three days after the EP ratified the sanctions resolution targeting several Iranian officials, whom the European legislature accused of violating human rights.

The Iranian legislators blasted the resolution as a clear instance of interference in the Islamic Republic's internal affairs, drawing attention to the double standards on display since the EU refrained from condemning a senior Iranian nuclear scientist's assassination in late November.