Iran attaches no value to EU’s ‘fraudulent’ sanctions: Gharibabadi

Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has decried as “fraudulent” the European Union’s move to impose sanctions on Iranian individuals and institutions over the situation in the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic.

On Monday, the European Union said it had imposed sanctions on two Iranian individuals ​and a unit of the Islamic Revolution Guard ‌Corps (IRGC) over the Strait of Hormuz.

"Iran's actions are unacceptable. In response member ​states have approved ​sanctions against ⁠Iranian entities and individuals involved in disrupting transit through the Strait of Hormuz," ​Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, ​claimed.

"This is the first time the EU has applied its new freedom ⁠of ​navigation regime and when necessary ​we will apply it again," she added.

Commenting on the decision, Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Gharibabadi noted that the “fraudulent move” comes while “the member states of the Union are major violators of the rights of the Iranian people and the Union has also deliberately remained silent in the face of the US naval blockade against Iran, which is considered an act of war!”

Pointing out that Iran is not a party to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the official stressed that “the legal regime emphasized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is ‘innocent passage’ based on customary international law and observance of maritime safety and security considerations of the coastal state.”

He downplayed the new EU measures, saying “Iran does not attach any value to this political and hypocritical European move and will continue its strategy of maintaining sovereignty and exercising sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz.”

Gharibabadi warned that “unilateral coercive measures also do not create law; rather, they can themselves be the source of international responsibility for their authors.”

Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz to its enemies and their allies following the latest US-Israeli aggression against the country.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases and interests in regional countries.

Iranian authorities introduced much stricter controls after US President Donald Trump announced a blockade targeting Iranian vessels and ports.

The tide has turned: Iran’s strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz crushes American naval supremacy

By consolidating its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has dealt a devastating and irreversible blow to American naval supremacy, forcing Washington to choose between humiliating submission or catastrophic confrontation.

Tehran says the measures violate the terms of a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire that took effect on April 8 and was later extended unilaterally by Washington.

The Islamic Republic insists it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies pass, unless the illegal blockade is lifted and the war reaches a permanent end.

The Iranian authority controlling the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf has defined the supervisory management zone of the waterway, announcing that movement through the strategic corridor requires coordination and a permit.

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said the zone is "the line connecting Mount Mubarak in Iran and southern Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, on the eastern side of the strait, extending to the line connecting the end of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates, on the western side of the strait."

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