The European Union is tightening its sanctions against Tehran because of the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia. The EU has “evidence” that drones used by Russia against Ukraine came from Iran, said the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Nabila Massrali, on Wednesday in Brussels. The EU is therefore imposing entry bans on several Iranian officials and a drone manufacturer and freezing their assets.
Masrali spoke of one “clear, quick and tough answer” from the EU. The new punitive measures are to be adopted by the member states in writing on Thursday morning before the start of the Brussels EU summit and will come into force upon publication in the Official Journal, as several diplomats announced.
According to Borrell’s proposal, which is available to the AFP news agency, four Iranian leaders and one organization are to be included on the European sanctions list. Among them are the Iranian chief of staff Mohammad Hossein Bagheri and the company Shahed Aviation Industries, which belongs to the Revolutionary Guards and produces the drones.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged his EU colleagues to introduce the new penalties in a video link on Monday. According to him, Russia continues especially so-called kamikaze drones in Ukraine one originating from Iran. This means unmanned drones loaded with explosives.
Ukraine says it has shot down more than 200 Iranian drones over the country since mid-September. Since the “first downing of an Iranian-made Shahed 136 kamikaze drone over Ukrainian territory on September 13 in Kupyansk,” the air defense system has “destroyed 223 drones of this type,” the Ukrainian army said in the short message service Telegram.
Tehran dismissed the information from Kyiv as “unfounded”. “The allegations that the Islamic Republic is sending weapons, including military drones, to the Ukraine war” are not true, a foreign ministry spokesman said in Tehran.
Only on Monday did the EU impose sanctions on the Iranian “moral police” and other responsible parties. The reason was the authorities’ crackdown on demonstrators after the death of a 22-year-old woman. She is said to have worn the headscarf improperly.
The use of Iranian drones against Ukraine is also said to be an issue at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday. According to diplomats, the permanent members USA, France and Great Britain have asked for the meeting. Because of Russia’s right of veto in the Security Council, there will be no resolution. But the US and France have warned that Iran is violating a panel resolution by supplying drones to Russia.
