After Iran’s attack on Israel, the EU is working on further sanctions against Tehran. They could include trade restrictions or target the drone program, according to EU foreign policy chief Borrell.
Iran faces new EU sanctions after its missile and drone attack on Israel. EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell announced after a video link from the foreign ministers of the member states that he would ask his team to prepare for further punitive measures. “We will expand and tighten the sanctions regime (…).”
Trade Restrictions and measures against drone construction
Accordingly, trade restrictions could, among other things, be expanded to make it more difficult for Iran to build missiles. It is also planned to target Iranian deliveries of drones and missiles to allies in the region. For both measures, a sanctions regime is to be expanded that was set up after Iran began supporting the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine with the delivery of drones.
So far, among other things, it has banned the export of components to Iran that are used for the construction and production of unmanned aircraft. In addition, people and organizations are also affected by punitive measures.
Classification of the Revolutionary Guards as Terrorist organization difficult
Borrell did not say in the evening when the planned new Iran sanctions could come into force. He simply pointed out that there would be another regular EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg next Monday.
Regarding calls for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be classified as a terrorist organization, Borrell explained that under EU law the elite unit of the Iranian armed forces must first be prosecuted by a national authority for terrorist activities. However, this has not been the case so far.
Call for de-escalation
After the foreign ministers’ video conference, Borrell also said that they agreed that further escalation must be prevented. We therefore call on everyone involved to exercise restraint. “The region is on the edge of the abyss,” emphasized Borrell. We have to get away from him now. If attack follows counterattack and the intensity continues to increase, you will end up with a real war. The war in the Gaza Strip will not end then either.
According to diplomats, Borrell himself was initially cautious about the issue of new sanctions. One reason is seen as efforts to persuade Iran to stick to an agreement to restrict its nuclear program. This is intended to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
On Sunday night, Iran directly attacked Israel from its territory for the first time in history. According to Israeli data, almost all of the 300 drones and missiles fired by Iran were repelled.