AMSTERDAM // Days after crowds in Tehran attacked two British diplomatic compounds, the European Union yesterday slapped further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme.
The body also issued a sharply worded statement condemning the embassy attack.
The council meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels agreed on measures against an additional 180 Iranian individuals and entities but stopped short of banning the import of Iranian oil, a step advocated by Germany and France.
"Given the EU's increasing concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme and the lack of progress in diplomatic efforts, the council has today strengthened the EU restrictive measures against that country," a statement from Brussels said.
The new sanctions are in response to a report earlier this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which renewed international concerns that Iran was developing the capacity to build nuclear weapons.
British measures against Iran, on the basis of the report, led to crowds breaking into the country's two diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday.
In return, and because of Iran's expulsion of the UK's ambassador, London expelled Iran's diplomats and several European countries also recalled their ambassadors for consultations.
The EU foreign ministers reserved their sharpest language for the attack on Britain's embassy and said they were "outraged".
But Iran yesterday freed 11 protesters, described as students, who were arrested for the attacks on the embassy compounds, while the powerful parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, called London's robust response "unjustifiable".
Radical student groups in Iran said they would hold a "ceremony to thank God for the breakdown of ties between Tehran and London".
The ransacking of the downtown embassy and a nearby residential compound for British staff has exposed divisions within Iran's leadership with the foreign ministry, thought to reflect the line of the president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.
On Wednesday it expressed regret for the embassy assault, deeming it "unacceptable".
But Mr Larijani, the speaker of parliament, who is said to be close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told state television yesterday: "How long must we endure the presence of the British in Iran … when they commit treachery against the Iranian people?"
The increase in international tensions over Iran comes as diplomatic efforts to gain more oversight of their nuclear programme are stuck and a series of sanctions and restrictive measures go unheeded.
In some countries, such as Israel and the US, there is a continuing debate over possible military strikes to stop the programme.
Iran has denied pursuing nuclear weapons but the IAEA has pointed at several signs it may be, including improved uranium enrichment capacities and the installation of more enrichment centrifuges.
The debate over how to best handle Iran extends throughout the international community, the EU and within the UK. Fundamental differences have emerged both between British ministers and between their advisers over the wisdom of trying to impose an EU oil embargo on Iran.
"Those supporting an import ban argue Tehran would then have little option but to rely on China taking up the slack, and that the Chinese would only buy the extra oil if it got it at a hefty discount, leaving the Iranian regime with insufficient income to pay its bills," said a diplomatic source in London.
"On the other side of the coin is the risk that an EU boycott would send world oil prices soaring, doing great damage to economies that are already in a fragile state."
The British foreign secretary, William Hague, insisted yesterday that new EU measures against Iran should be directed against Tehran's nuclear programme and not as a retaliation to the storming of the UK embassy.
"These are not measures that are in reaction to our embassy. There has been a range of other reactions to that," he told the BBC immediately before the start of the Brussels meeting. The EU steps are unlikely to be the last word on measures against Iran, said Daniel Korski of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
"There will be another round of sanctions, presumably in the future," he added. "The bottom line is those arguing for a tougher line can live to fight another day. If they don't get it this time, they can argue for it at a future time."
The EU stressed at several points in its statements that it preferred a negotiated, diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue. Mr Korski said this is where Europe may be able to play a role, especially at a time when the US is focusing on its presidential elections next year.
"It is hard to see the US playing any kind of meaningful role beyond carrying a large stick and I think Europe is the only power that retains the ability to wield both a stick and a carrot credibly."
* Additional reporting by David Sapsted in London and Michael Theodoulou in Nicosia
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)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
