Fresh US sanctions on individuals and companies accused of dealing with Iran, including a UAE-based shipping company, does not point to an impasse between the pair say lawyers.
The US Treasury department last week announced new sanctions on a series of Iranian and foreign companies it claims were aiding Iran’s nuclear programme.
The foreign companies sanctioned include the UAE’s Goldentex FZE, a Bur Dubai-based firm alleged to be working with Iran’s shipping sector.
Enquiries made at the Dubai premises listed by the US Treasury for Goldentex found no trace of the firm, with the offices there occupied by a different company that claimed no links with the shipping company.
The announcement came in the run up to a new round of talks, due to begin on September 18, between Iran and six world powers to reach a comprehensive settlement on the country’s nuclear programme.
Ramsey Jurdi, a Dubai-based partner with Chadbourne & Parke, said the Treasury’s announcement was business as usual and would not place the wider negotiations in jeopardy.
“From when the interim agreement was signed [in November], the US has said it will stringently enforce the remaining sanctions, meaning more than 90 per cent of the sanctions regime that was in place,” he said.
This stringent enforcement is in part a domestic US political play to keep critics of a deal with Iran on the sidelines by showing enforcement actions while a deal was being negotiated, he said.
The Treasury’s action against the individuals and companies “reflects our continuing determination to take action against anyone, anywhere, who violates our sanctions”, said David Cohen, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
But such announcements were commonplace, according to Sarosh Zaiwalla, a senior partner at Zaiwalla and Co, which represents both Iranian and foreign companies looking to do business in Iran.
“This is something that the US does regularly, adding companies to the list,” said Mr Zaiwalla. “I wouldn’t be too pessimistic because it happens quite often.”
Nevertheless the announcement drew condemnation from the Iranian government this week.
The country’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, hit out at the sanctions, describing them as “cruel and illegal”.
“We do not recognise the sanctions,” he said in a statement quoted by oil ministry’s website. “We fulfil our duty for circumventing the sanctions.”
The signing of a provisional deal between Iran and six world powers has lead to cautious hope for an easing of trade sanctions with the country.
Such a deal is being eagerly hoped for by UAE-based businesses looking to revive long-standing economic trading ties across the Arabian Gulf.
Bilateral trade between the two countries fell to about US$4.5 billion last year, down from $8.5bn in 2012, according to figures from the Iranian Business Council in Dubai.
Under terms of an agreement struck with Iran in November, Tehran agreed to a series of curbs on its nuclear industry, in return for a “limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible relief” of sanctions.
The new round of talks this month is aimed at reaching a comprehensive deal by November 24.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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