3.2 Maritime Sanctions: Iran and North Korea
Since 2006, the Security Council has issued a number of Resolutions focusing on
weapons proliferation concerns in both Iran and North Korea. These coastal states
naturally rely on maritime transport to support their economies and to facilitate the
development of their weapons programmes. Recognizing the maritime lifeline to
these regimes, the Security Council has increasingly utilized targeted regulation of
shipping activities as a mechanism to coerce these governments into behaviour
consistent with international norms.
20
Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East and one of the top producers
of oil in the world. It has traditionally benefitted from hosting significant global
shipping activities along its coasts and has served as an important trading partner
with Europe in particular. While Iran has at times had a hostile relationship with the
United States and also the United Kingdom, in the early 2000s Iran’s investment in
nuclear infrastructure led to concern from others in the international community.
After the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was unable to confirm
Iran’s nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes, the UN Security Council in
2006 began imposing economic sanctions on Iran.
21 Over the next four years, the
Security Council issued multiple Resolutions designed to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions. A number of provisions within these Resolutions specifically restrict maritime
activities with a nexus to Iran.
Several years after these sanctions were implemented, diplomacy appeared to
prevail in the form of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
22 Under the
JCPOA, Iran agreed with the so-called P5+1 (the five permanent members of the
Security Council plus Germany and the European Union) to halt its nuclear
programme in exchange for rolling back the UN, EU, and US sanctions. This
agreement was reflected in the Annex of UNSC Res 2231 (2015). While the US
under President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, the
other parties, including the EU, have taken a number of steps to preserve the
agreement.
23
North Korea, on the other hand, has been highly isolated for decades since
hostilities in the Korean Peninsula ended in an armistice. Despite its curious
approach to trade and diplomacy, the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ has nonetheless relied on
imports and exports to sustain its economy and population of over 25 million. It has
also used trade to generate the revenue and technological capacity to build an illicit
nuclear weapons programme. In response to a series of long-range missile and
nuclear weapons tests, North Korea has been the target of many rounds of Security
20 Huish (2017), Zou (2011) and Klein (2011).
21 See Transcript of Direct General’s Remarks at Conclusion of IAEA Board Meeting, March
8, 2006.
22 UNSC Res 2231 (2015).
23 See Joint Statement on the Re-imposition of US Sanctions Due to its Withdrawal from the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) 6 August, 2018.
9 The Impact of UN Sanctions on Commercial Shipping Activities
163
Since 2006, the Security Council has issued a number of Resolutions focusing on
weapons proliferation concerns in both Iran and North Korea. These coastal states
naturally rely on maritime transport to support their economies and to facilitate the
development of their weapons programmes. Recognizing the maritime lifeline to
these regimes, the Security Council has increasingly utilized targeted regulation of
shipping activities as a mechanism to coerce these governments into behaviour
consistent with international norms.
20
Iran is the second largest country in the Middle East and one of the top producers
of oil in the world. It has traditionally benefitted from hosting significant global
shipping activities along its coasts and has served as an important trading partner
with Europe in particular. While Iran has at times had a hostile relationship with the
United States and also the United Kingdom, in the early 2000s Iran’s investment in
nuclear infrastructure led to concern from others in the international community.
After the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was unable to confirm
Iran’s nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes, the UN Security Council in
2006 began imposing economic sanctions on Iran.
21 Over the next four years, the
Security Council issued multiple Resolutions designed to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions. A number of provisions within these Resolutions specifically restrict maritime
activities with a nexus to Iran.
Several years after these sanctions were implemented, diplomacy appeared to
prevail in the form of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
22 Under the
JCPOA, Iran agreed with the so-called P5+1 (the five permanent members of the
Security Council plus Germany and the European Union) to halt its nuclear
programme in exchange for rolling back the UN, EU, and US sanctions. This
agreement was reflected in the Annex of UNSC Res 2231 (2015). While the US
under President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, the
other parties, including the EU, have taken a number of steps to preserve the
agreement.
23
North Korea, on the other hand, has been highly isolated for decades since
hostilities in the Korean Peninsula ended in an armistice. Despite its curious
approach to trade and diplomacy, the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ has nonetheless relied on
imports and exports to sustain its economy and population of over 25 million. It has
also used trade to generate the revenue and technological capacity to build an illicit
nuclear weapons programme. In response to a series of long-range missile and
nuclear weapons tests, North Korea has been the target of many rounds of Security
20 Huish (2017), Zou (2011) and Klein (2011).
21 See Transcript of Direct General’s Remarks at Conclusion of IAEA Board Meeting, March
8, 2006.
22 UNSC Res 2231 (2015).
23 See Joint Statement on the Re-imposition of US Sanctions Due to its Withdrawal from the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) 6 August, 2018.
9 The Impact of UN Sanctions on Commercial Shipping Activities
163