News from BICC - 2013

24th November, 2013 : Joint Action Plan Agreed P5+1 Foreign Ministers and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif listen as European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton speaks at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, after the group settled a Joint Action Plan relating to Iran's nuclear capabilities on November 24, 2013. To download the text of the Joint Action Plan, click here

Professor Lucas and BICC directors led a panel discussion on the issues for President Rouhani's new government at the Members' meeting on 20th September. For a summary, click here

We have updated the list of cabinet members after the recent confirmations made at the end of October 2013. The full list can be viewed here.

1st October 2013 Lord Lamont was interviewed on BBC Persian's Hard Talk on Tuesday, 1st October 2013. The interview can be seen here on the BBC Persian's website or a YouTube version can be seen here. Both versions have a Persian voiceover. An English version of the interview can be found here.

16th September 2013: The European Court held on Monday 16 September 2013 that the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) should not have been included on the EU sanctions list.

The Shipping Line was included on the European Union's sanctions list as a targeted entity in 2010, along with a number of companies said to be "owned or controlled" by it. The application to the court on behalf of IRISL was made in October 2010. The General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg held that the European Council should not have included IRISL on its sanctions list ("restrictive measures") because its reasons for doing so were too vague and because it had no evidence to support its allegations.

The allegations against IRISL were that it supported nuclear proliferation in Iran by shipping "proscribed cargo", and that it assisted other companies to breach United Nations sanctions against Iran. The Court held that the latter reason was too vague to comply with the Council's obligation to give reasons. This because the Council could in principle only rely on the former reason (involvement in nuclear proliferation). But since IRISL denied any involvement in nuclear proliferation and submitted evidence showing that the goods to which the Council referred were military goods, unrelated to nuclear proliferation, and since the Council had produced no evidence to substantiate its assertions to the contrary, its designation could not be sustained.

The Court emphasised that inference and speculation about future risks is insufficient and that if the EU wishes to sanction a company on the grounds of involvement in proliferation, it has to present evidence of actual involvement. It also said that if the EU wishes to include different criteria for listing companies it will have to legislate to do so. Since IRISL's designation is unjustified, so too is the inclusion of companies on the grounds that IRISL "owns or controls" them. There are a number of challenges by those companies for whom we also act which are currently pending before the European court. The annulment of IRISL's listing will take effect if the Council does not appeal against the General Court judgment within two months.

31st July 2013: Lord Lamont interviewed on Voice of America view here...

18th July 2013: The Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, Foreign Secretary, appearing before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on 16th July, said that the UK would respond in good faith to positive action by Iran to improve ties between the UK and Iran. Also he said that "we are ready to improve our relations step-by-step". At the same time the FCO amended travel advice on Iran, dropping the former recommendation to British nationals not to travel anywhere in the country.

Subsequently, Abbas Araqchi, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that Tehran pursues a policy of expanded relations with EU countries, including the UK, based on mutual interests and respect. He said that the President-Elect had stressed constructive interaction with the world on an equal footing and based on mutual interests and respect as well as the removal of tensions and reciprocal confidence-building.

The Chairman of BICC and its President urge the government to restore full diplomatic relations with Iran. Click here to view a copy of the letter published in The Times, July 12th 2013

On the 4th July, 2013, our Director General, gave a talk to the Middle East Association entitled, Comments on Iran: the Economy and Sanctions. You can read his notes for the talk here.

Click here to view a copy of an article about the recent election, written by our chairman for The Times. It was published on June 18th 2013

Read about the visit of the business delegation from the Irano-British Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines (IBCCIM) to London in May 2013. Click here for full story.

The European Court of Justice has annulled EU sanctions imposed on Bank Saderat and Bank Mellat, but the European Council has lodged appeals against the annulments. Click here for more details.

There has been a significant change in UK sanctions on Iran, which brings them in line with recently agreed EU sanctions. Whereas previously UK sanctions prohibited dealings between UK financial institutions and Iranian banks, now, subject the HM Treasury authorisation, it is possible to receive payments from Iranian banks which are not subject to an EU asset freeze - there are a number of such banks. Nigel Kushner, a BICC Board Member, explains this in more detail here.

Please click here to read about the unmaking of sanctions on Iran, set in the context of how they were put in place. This document is a useful background to the series of talks, which began in Almaty in February, between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (US, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany), which raised fresh hopes that the Iran nuclear disagreement may be open to a diplomatic solution.

The latest Economic Focus, Winter 2012 - Issue 17, is available to download from our publications section