The EU is considering new sanctions against about 40 Iranian citizens and entities over Tehran's brutal clampdown on protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini last year.
Documents prepared by bloc officials set out a sanctions package that includes 17 people, namely politicians, media officials plus current and former officials in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The sanctions are part of the EU's continued response to human rights offences committed by Iran.
The demonstrations represent a significant challenge to the country's leadership. Ms Amini died in the custody of Iran's morality policy in September after she was accused of wearing her hijab “inappropriately”.
US-based human rights monitor HRANA said more than 500 people had been killed in the repression and close to 20,000 arrested.
At least four demonstrators have been executed by hanging after what rights groups have described as sham trials.
One of most prominent figures that is reportedly a target of the coming EU sanctions is Iranian Sports Minister Hamid Sajjadi Hazaveh, according to report in Politico.
EU documents said he was “responsible for pressurising Iran’s athletes into silence, to prevent them from speaking out internationally against repression in Iran”.
The documents allege that Mr Sajjadi Hazaveh was personally involved in the case of Iranian athlete climber Elnaz Rekabi, who competed without the hijab.
The documents indicate that, as a result, Iranian authorities demolished her home.
The EU is also considering imposing sanctions on current and former IRGC officials and 20 Iranian entities.
They include the country’s Communication Regulation Authority, for its role in filtering internet access in the country, and the Ravin Academy, which trains hackers “involved in directly disrupting the communication of those protesting against the Iranian regime”, reported Politico.
EU ambassadors must discuss the reported draft sanctions before they are approved by EU foreign ministers later this month.
Should they be adopted, the latest round of sanctions would be similar in scope to previous ones adopted by the EU over Iran’s human rights offences.
The EU has announced new sanctions against Iran every month since the protests began in September.
On October 17, the bloc imposed sanctions on 11 people and four entities, including Iran’s morality police and law enforcement forces.
The country’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Issa Zarepour was also included on the sanctions list for the role he played in the internet shutdown.
On November 14, the EU placed sanctions on another 29 people and three entities, including Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's cyber police chief Vahid Majid and provincial leaders of the IRGC.
Further sanctions were adopted on December 12. They also included people and entities involved in Iran’s drone programme.
The EU has accused Tehran of sending drones to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine.
EU countries such as Germany, the UK and France are also separately considering listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation — as the US did in 2019.
Earlier this week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said listing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation was politically important and made sense.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
