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Opinion | After uniting against Russia, the West is applying the same approach to Iran
- Following the success of a swift collective response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries are now coordinating efforts to sanction Iran for human rights abuses
- Lessons are being learned from the failure of slow and disjointed measures against Iran in the past
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On December 14, the United Nations adopted a resolution to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the first time a state has been expelled from the body. The passing of this US-drafted resolution was described by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan as “another sign of the growing international consensus on Iran”.
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Although “consensus” is perhaps an overstatement – there were eight votes against the resolution, including from Russia and China, and 16 abstentions, compared to 29 votes in favour – the move could be seen as the latest in a sequence of increasingly coordinated action against the Iranian regime that began in the wake of the killing of Jina (Mahsa) Amini.
Economic sanctions have been the primary tool deployed in this effort; just days after Amini’s death while in custody, on September 22, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Iran’s morality police, the body that had detained Amini, for violence against women. The UK followed suit on October 10, with the EU imposing sanctions a week later.
Subsequent months saw the adoption of additional sanctions against Iran by the US, UK and EU in response to Iran’s suppression of the protest movement that arose following Amini’s death. The timing and targets of these sanctions have tended to coincide, with US designations preceding similar measures by the UK and EU.
The development of a united Western front against Iran has been given further momentum by evidence of Iranian entities supplying the Russian military with drones for use in Ukraine.
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This has entwined elements of the sanctions against Iran with the more comprehensive programme imposed on Russia since February. Indeed, Iran’s support for Russia’s war effort appears to have been a key factor in the international community’s willingness to take new actions against its leadership.
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