Iran sanctions harm Europe economy

In the wake of a legal challenge launched by many shipping firms against the European Union (EU) for imposing sanctions on Iran, sanctions have affected Europe's economy, said a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran's Parliaments Gholam Reza Karami, Press TV reported with reference to Parliament's news agency (ICANA).

Karami said although sanctions against Iran were aimed at exerting pressure on the country's economy, the application indicated that they had affected European companies.

He added that sanctions on Iran inflicted damage on 36 European firms and made them file an application with the General Court of the European Union to prevent further losses.

The Iranian legislator added that the indication proved that sanctions have been ineffective against Iran and emphasized that many trade and commercial companies are willing to make deals with Tehran regardless of the sanctions.

There are many firms in the world that maintain their economic relations with Iran, Karami noted, adding that sanctions inflicted the most damage on European countries rather than Iran.

Thirty-six entities led by Hamburg-based shipping firm Ocean Capital Administration have recently filed a summery application with the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg, calling for an annulment of financial sanctions, which they said had led to an EU-wide freeze of their assets.

"The result is that they are unable to trade or carry out business at all within the EU, and are not able to obtain insurance or reinsurance for hull or machinery from any European company, and it is prohibited to load or unload their cargoes in EU ports," the application said.


/Trend/