The term sanctions has become remarkably popular in news and reports, and has been linked to a large extent with the two crises of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and Iran and its confrontation with a storm of protest with violence, especially against women.
Sanctions Each party in the various conflicts faces counter-sanctions, which was evident between Russia and the West regarding its military operation in Ukraine.
The West (Europe and the United States) imposed international sanctions during the Russian-Ukrainian war collectively by the European Union or individually by a large number of countries against Russia, and it began early with the beginnings of the war in late February 2014.
Sanctions have been imposed by the United States, the European Union and other countries and international organizations against individuals, businesses and officials from Russia and Ukraine.
Russia retaliated against a number of countries, including imposing a complete ban on food imports from the European Union, the United States, Norway, Canada and Australia, and created a blacklist of “unfriendly” countries that included sanctions on individuals and senior officials.
The United States and the European Union have also imposed repeated sanctions on Iran, whether some of its officials or companies, in response to the “excessive use” of violence against protesters, and other sanctions related to Iran’s support for Russia with drones in the Ukrainian war.
Political experts believe that the sanctions targeting senior officials, especially those working in the diplomatic field, if they are not expulsion and declaring a person or group of people from the diplomats undesirable, then they do not represent material damage as much as they limit the movement of personalities such as foreign ministers, for example.
Good thing
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly commented on Russia putting his name on the sanctions list, in connection with the anti-Moscow course being pursued by the UK government.
Cleverly said in a tweet on his Twitter account today, Monday, “Russia imposed sanctions on me, and this is a good thing.”
“If this is the price of supporting Ukrainian freedom, I am glad that I am being punished,” he added.
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia had added British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to the sanctions list in connection with the anti-Russian course pursued by the UK government.
“Given the UK government’s progressive anti-Russian course, in January this year it was decided to add a number of members of the British Cabinet, representatives of law enforcement agencies and press bodies to the ‘Russian stop’ list, among them the British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley in particular,” Zakharova said. particularity”.
Sanctions were also imposed on Michael Gove, the British Secretary of State for Settlement, Housing and Communities; Nadim Al-Zahawi, a British minister without portfolio, and Patrick Sanders, chief of the general staff of the British armed forces, are among other senior officials.
Diplomatic restraint
Last November, Poland, which was preparing to organize the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in early December, refused Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov entry to its territory, according to the organization’s presidency.
In response to the decision, Moscow on Saturday considered Warsaw’s move “unacceptable and provocative.” This comes in the context of the escalating tension between the two countries over the war in Ukraine.
However, a source in the organization’s presidency explained that the organization “expects that the Russian Federation will choose the members of its delegation in accordance with the applicable regulations,” provided that “it does not include persons subject to EU sanctions as a result of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine on February 24, including Minister Lavrov.”
Deposit freeze and travel ban
In contrast to those who believe that the effects of sanctions on senior officials are nothing more than a restriction of their movement, another group believes that it may also amount to material and financial damage, as evidenced by the European sanctions against Iranian officials against the background of the suppression of protests in Iran.
The European Union has already adopted sanctions providing for asset freezes and travel bans against those it says are “responsible for repression” in Iran.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told the deputies that these measures “are aimed at responding to repression by targeting those responsible for it. They can have an impact on decision-makers in the Iranian regime.”
“It is a matter of freezing their assets and preventing their travel rights,” she added.
In December, Britain imposed sanctions targeting 22 Russian officials who played a role in mobilizing reservists to fight in Ukraine. The sanctions, which include an asset freeze and a travel ban to the UK, hit Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and dozens of local governors from regions where hundreds of thousands of personnel were conscripted.