EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that Brussels was starting work on expanding sanctions against Iran after Tehran’s attack on Israel.
Speaking after an emergency online meeting of EU foreign ministers, Borrell said that the bloc would look to toughen measures against Iran’s supplies of weaponry – including drones – to Russia and proxy groups around the Middle East.
“Some member states propose the adoption of expanded restrictive measures against Iran,” Borrell said.
The EU’s top diplomat said that he was requesting his service to “start the necessary work related to the sanctions.”
EU foreign ministers held urgent talks after Iran’s unprecedented weekend drone and missile onslaught against Israel, which caused little damage.
Their meeting came on the eve of a two-day EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, during which the dangerous escalation in the Middle East will loom large on the agenda.
Tehran’s first-ever direct assault on Israeli soil came in response to a deadly attack on its consulate in Damascus, widely blamed on Israel.
Borrell said that the EU countries roundly reiterated their condemnation of Iran’s attack and backed Israel’s right to self-defense.
“We have to move away from the edge of the abyss,” Borrell said.
The EU already slapped sanctions on Iran over supplies of drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine, and threatened to punish Tehran if it gives missiles to Moscow.
Borrell said that some member states raised the possibility of adding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to the EU’s terrorist blacklist, but he insisted that this would first require a legal ruling in a member state.
With AFP
