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International Published At: 18 Apr 2024, 19:03 p.m.

EU leaders agree to tighten sanctions on Iran


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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called the recent attack on Israel "limited" and "punitive". Photo via BBC

Following Tehran's unprecedented attack on Israel, the EU has agreed to impose more restrictions on Iranian drone and missile companies.


"It's very important to do everything to isolate Iran," European Council President Charles Michel said.

The EU has previously imposed various sanctions on Iran, including for selling drones to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.

The US has signalled that it may apply further sanctions in the coming days.

The EU's new sanctions were agreed during a summit in Brussels which marked the first meeting between the bloc's 27 leaders since Iran's direct assault on Israel on Saturday, involving more than 300 missiles and drones fired from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen which were mostly downed by Israel and its allies.

Tehran has maintained it was retaliation for a presumed Israeli air strike on its consulate in Syria on April 1, in which 13 people were killed.

Israel - which appears to have only countered with a diplomatic offensive so far - has not ruled out a response.

Israel has called on its allies to sanction Tehran's missile programme and for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - a major military and political force in Iran - to be designated a terrorist organisation, something the US has done but the EU and UK have not.

The EU already has a wide range of measures in place which target Iran over its human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and military support for Russia.

Speaking about the possibility of further sanctions on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that "all options to disrupt terrorist financing of Iran continue to be on the table".

She also signalled that Iran's oil exports could be "a possible area" Washington targets.

Source: BBC