The hardening of EU sanctions on Iran has lessened hopes for a nuclear deal, experts told The National on Tuesday.
This week, the West stepped up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on anti-government protests as the EU, UK and US imposed fresh sanctions on several senior Iranian officials and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Co-operative Foundation.
“EU sanctions send a diplomatic warning to Iran’s government that the EU is getting closer to the US and Israeli positions, and that hope for the nuclear deal is fading in Brussels and European capitals,” Michael Knights, expert at the Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, told The National.
“If the EU issues important report sanctions, that means they are one step closer to considering supporting the snapback on UN sanctions, which could seriously affect Chinese and Russian engagement with Iran’s oil and defence sectors.”
Mr Knights predicted the nuclear deal was unlikely to return.
The EU imposed sanctions that hit 37 officials and entities with asset freezes and visa bans, including units of the Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a “brutal” crackdown on unrest and other human rights abuses.
It was the EU's fourth round of sanctions against Iran since the protests started last September.
Iran responded late on Monday by condemning the newly imposed sanctions and threatening to retaliate.
The US and Britain also issued new sanctions against Iran, reflecting a deterioration in the West's already dire relations with Tehran.
The imposition of American sanctions on Iran was the ninth round since Tehran began its deadly crackdown on protesters who are demanding reforms to the system.
The West’s hardline approach to Tehran stems is in response to the regime's crackdown on protests as well as concerns over deepening military co-operation between Iran and Russia, Naysan Rafati, Crisis Group's Iran senior analyst, told The National.
“Those two issues have mobilised the western response we've been seeing over the past few months, most recently in the co-ordinated sanctions announcements from the EU, UK and US this week,” Mr Rafati said.
He added that concerns over Iran's nuclear programme have not gone away, as Tehran continues to expand “its enrichment capacity while its facilities operate under reduced international monitoring”.
There seems to be little drive to revive the 2015 nuclear deal but the West prefer to keep the diplomatic resolution open to avoid further escalation, he said.
On the other hand, the hardening of the EU position will mean the bloc and its member states will no longer be viable interlocutors with Iran, said Sanam Vakil, deputy director and senior research fellow at Chatham House's Middle East North Africa Programme.
“This will become problematic when tensions rise and realisation over the lack of plan Bs regarding Iran's accelerating nuclear programme sets in,” Mr Vakil told The National.
Iran's deadly clampdown on unrest after the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September has drawn international attention and condemnation.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said the new sanctions were a sign of EU and UK “desperation, frustration and fury over their recent scandalous failure in creating instability in Iran despite huge efforts and costs”.
Authorities said hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed and thousands arrested during what they have labelled “riots” incited by the “enemies” of the nation.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdited%20by%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Idries%20Trevathan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20240%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hirmer%20Publishers%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)
BANGLADESH SQUAD
Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (vice captain), Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
Education reform in Abu Dhabi
The emirate’s public education system has been in a constant state of change since the New School Model was launched in 2010 by the Abu Dhabi Education Council. The NSM, which is also known as the Abu Dhabi School Model, transformed the public school curriculum by introducing bilingual education starting with students from grades one to five. Under this new curriculum, the children spend half the day learning in Arabic and half in English – being taught maths, science and English language by mostly Western educated, native English speakers. The NSM curriculum also moved away from rote learning and required teachers to develop a “child-centered learning environment” that promoted critical thinking and independent learning. The NSM expanded by one grade each year and by the 2017-2018 academic year, it will have reached the high school level. Major reforms to the high school curriculum were announced in 2015. The two-stream curriculum, which allowed pupils to elect to follow a science or humanities course of study, was eliminated. In its place was a singular curriculum in which stem -- science, technology, engineering and maths – accounted for at least 50 per cent of all subjects. In 2016, Adec announced additional changes, including the introduction of two levels of maths and physics – advanced or general – to pupils in Grade 10, and a new core subject, career guidance, for grades 10 to 12; and a digital technology and innovation course for Grade 9. Next year, the focus will be on launching a new moral education subject to teach pupils from grades 1 to 9 character and morality, civic studies, cultural studies and the individual and the community.
