The Swiss Federal Council has officially lifted Switzerland’s sanctions against Iran. "Given this important turning point in the 12-year nuclear dispute, the Federal Council decided on 12 August to lift the sanctions against Iran that had been suspended since January 2014 and to issue a new exemption clause. The amendment to the corresponding ordinance comes into effect on 13 August," the statement said.
The opposite side of the Atlantic holds another position. The Deputy spokesperson of the US State Department, Mark Toner, said that the US does not intend to follow the example of Switzerland. "We’ve been clear that we won’t relieve any sanctions under the JCPOA until after the IAEA verifies that Iran has taken all of its major nuclear-related steps, and that remains our policy. So until that occurs, we intend to continue aggressively enforcing those sanctions," he stressed.
The director of the Social and Political Research Center, the head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Vladimir Yevseyev, explained to Vestnik Kavkaza what the difference between two countries' approaches is to the issue of sanctions against Iran.
According to the expert, today it is premature to talk about lifting the US restrictions. "In accordance with the comprehensive plan of action on July 14, 2015, it is assumed that the US will implement only a process of suspending sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program for 8 years. It refers to all sanctions which have been imposed on Iran and which are not connected with the nuclear program. Therefore, all other restrictions, which have been taken before and after that and not related to the Iranian nuclear program, remain in effect. And it is about a half of all the sanctions against Iran imposed by the US. These sanctions will continue to operate," he noted.
"Those sanctions related to the nuclear program include sanctions which have been adopted by the US president as well as those adopted by Congress. If a document was adopted by the President, Obama may suspend it for a year. But next year the US president will once again have to take a similar decision," Yevseyev said.
"With regard to the documents that were adopted by Congress, the US president can suspend the sanctions for a period of 6 months only. About the lifting of sanctions we can speak only in 8 years, when the agreement enters into force, and it can only happen if the US Congress doesn't prevent it in October this year," he added.
Commenting on the decision by the European country to lift the sanctions, Vladimir Yevseyev drew attention to the fact that Bern has a simpler situation. "Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. Therefore, from this point of view, it could make such a decision, regardless of the decision of the EU," the director of the Social and Political Research Center concluded.
