WANA (May 27) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, on Wednesday welcomed Ireland’s decision to advance legislation banning imports from Israeli settlements, calling it a commendable step toward transforming international law from rhetoric into action.

 

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on May 27, Gharibabadi highlighted a 2004 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which affirmed that the establishment of these settlements constitutes a violation of international law.

 

“Based on this opinion, governments are obligated not to recognize the illegal situation and to refrain from helping to maintain it,” Gharibabadi stated. “Therefore, trading in settlement products is not an ordinary commercial transaction; rather, it is economic complicity in the continuation of occupation and the whitewashing of an illegal status.”

 

The Iranian diplomat urged other nations to implement similar measures. “It is now the turn of other governments, especially Western claimants of international law, to enforce the very rules they preach, rather than retreating in the face of pressure from the Israeli regime, certain American lawmakers, and business lobbies,” he added.

 

Ireland Pushes for EU-Wide Restrictions

The remarks follow the Irish government’s approval of a draft bill to ban goods imported from Israeli settlements. Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee stated that Dublin is also actively lobbying within the European Union for a stricter, unified stance against the settlements, noting that an EU-wide trade ban would serve as the strongest possible response.

 

Last week, the European Union approved sanctions targeting settlements in the West Bank for the first time.

 

While acknowledging that full consensus regarding Israel has not yet been achieved among all EU member states, McEntee pointed out that recent actions—including the detention of activists from the “Global Freedom Flotilla”—have shifted the political landscape in Europe, creating a stronger willingness to respond.