Will Europe Follow the US in Imposing New Sanctions?

Laurent Fabius states that the outcome of the European Union's decision regarding new sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile tests will be known by the end of this week. According to the French Foreign Minister, this decision will be made after comparing the systems of the EU and the US to determine whether new sanctions against Iran's Emad missile tests are necessary. Radio Farda has an analytical report on this matter. Laurent Fabius announced on Monday, January 18, in Abu Dhabi that a decision would be made by the end of the week on whether the EU should impose new sanctions on Iran similar to those of the US in response to the recent Emad ballistic missile tests. Just hours after the announcement of the implementation of the nuclear agreement, which included the lifting of UN sanctions, the Obama administration sanctioned eleven individuals and entities related to Iran's missile tests. What decision will the EU make by the end of this week? Will it revert to its historical precedent and, according to some political observers, draw boundaries with sanctioning policies or not? Hussein Alizadeh, a former diplomat of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Helsinki, noted that we have not seen the EU take a position in favor of the United States or the Islamic Republic so far. The EU may be cautious and not quickly follow the US in imposing missile sanctions on Iran unless the Islamic Republic insists on its missile program so strongly that it loses the excuse to avoid pressure from the EU, which could lead it to align with the US, as it did in the nuclear case. Therefore, it can be said that the EU is currently in a state of inquiry and may not insist on imposing new sanctions like the US. However, some experts believe that the French Foreign Minister's comments on Monday reflect serious international and regional concerns about Iran's missile program. Houshang Amir-Ahmadi, a political economy professor at Rutgers University, expressed concerns months ago, stating that he viewed the Islamic Republic's missiles as a ticking time bomb. He believes that the French Foreign Minister's statement carries meaning and is bad news. The sanctions imposed by the Obama administration shortly after the announcement that everything was being resolved were also bad news regarding the missile issue. Worse sanctions are currently being considered in the US Congress, which may soon impose sanctions against Iran related to missiles. They believe they have neutralized the nuclear aspect, but the missile aspect still exists and may be even more dangerous since there was no bomb in the nuclear aspect, and Arabs and Israelis are keenly pursuing this matter, suggesting that the US should at least take some of the Islamic Republic's missiles away. At the same time, some analysts note that there are different types of sanctions, and the new US sanctions announced on Sunday are specific missile sanctions with a limited scope. Mehdi Nourbakhsh, an international relations professor at Harrisburg University, stated that the nature of the new sanctions being discussed is entirely different from past sanctions. They are talking about companies that are related to Iran concerning specific matters, namely ballistic missiles and military industries. Therefore, the nature of these sanctions is completely different, and he hopes that friends do not mix them up. There is no talk of returning to impose financial sanctions on Iran or other things. Laurent Fabius's promise to consider the issue of new EU sanctions in response to the Emad ballistic missile test comes ahead of Hassan Rouhani's first European trip after the lifting of UN sanctions, which is scheduled for early February, with Italy as the first destination and France as the second.