Expert Calls Sanctions against Iran "Economic War"

“Some judicial experts and even jurists view these sanctions as an economic war against Iran,” Pierre-Emmanuel Dupont, a member of the Hague Center for Law and Arbitration, told the Tasnim News Agency.

He made the comments on the sidelines of the International Conference on the Negative Impact of Economic and Financial Sanctions on Enjoyment of Human Rights held here in Tehran on Tuesday.

The legal basis of sanctions and their negative impacts on the development of world states were among the issues discussed in the two-day conference.

Dupont questioned the targeted nature of the oil sanctions against Iran, and reiterated that the punitive actions are like a war.

Referring to the impact of sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights, the European expert stressed that studies on recent sanctions show they violate the international law in most cases.

The expert also expressed the hope that the illegal sanctions against Iran are lifted following a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council plus Germany).

“Given the will of Iran and the US, it is possible to clinch a final nuclear deal, and European countries, especially France, will not act against the will of these two countries,” Dupont added.

The first round of talks after the extension of negotiation deadline was kicked off in the Swiss city of Geneva on Monday with the bilateral talks between Iran and the US.

Representatives from Iran and the Sextet (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) are slated to convene on Wednesday.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) wrapped up seven days of intensive nuclear talks in Vienna on November 24 without securing a long-awaited comprehensive deal.

They decided to extend talks on Tehran’s peaceful atomic program for seven more months.