London announced on Thursday new sanctions against Iran against three generals and an arms manufacturer “responsible for supplying Russia with suicide drones” to bomb Ukraine.
The UK joined the European Union countries that imposed sanctions on Tehran on Thursday. “By delivering these drones, Iran is demonstrating relentless pursuit of combat, taking advantage of Russia’s heinous attacks on Ukrainian civilians,” the British government said in a statement.
The European Union has approved sanctions against Iran for its actions in Ukraine. The Czech presidency of the European Union has announced that the countries of the Union have decided to freeze the assets of 3 people and one entity responsible for the supply of drones.
The presidency said on Twitter: “The countries of the European Union have decided to freeze the assets of 3 people and an entity responsible for the supply of drones, and are also ready to extend the sanctions to include four other Iranian entities already in the previous list. of sanctions “.
The sanctions will take effect on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, the European Union reiterated that Iran is behind Supply of drones to Russia targeting Ukrainian cities.
“We have gathered our evidence” and the bloc is preparing for a “clear, swift and firm response,” said Nabila Masrali, spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
A list seen by the Agence France-Presse showed that the European Union was preparing to impose sanctions on three Iranian military officials, including General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces.
The sanctions also include “Shahid” for Aerospace Industries, a company linked to the Revolutionary Guards.
The Iranian drone Shahed 171 fires a bullet during training
Ukraine reported about weeks ago Russia has launched attacks with Iranian Shahed-136 dronesdrones whose warheads explode in suicide landings, Kiev has also cut off relations with Tehran.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military reported shooting down more than 220 Iranian-made drones in about a month, despite the drone bombing of Kiev killing five people on Monday.
Until 2023
The US says Iran’s supply of war drones to Russia violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231 in 2015, which sponsored a nuclear deal that is now in ruins.
And in 2020 the resolution imposed by the ban on the sale of Iranian conventional weapons ended, despite attempts by the previous Donald Trump administration to extend it.
But the resolution bans until October 2023 all Iranian arms exports that are not authorized by the Security Council if they benefit from ballistic missile capabilities.
US State Department spokesman Vidant Patel said Wednesday that “Iran’s supply of these specific types of drones to Russia is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and a Security Council issue. of the United Nations”.
The alleged arms transfers come as Iran faces increasing pressure to crack down on the country’s largest protests in the years following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the “moral police”.
The unrest led to the imposition of new Western sanctions on Iran and the decline of US President Joe Biden’s efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal from which Donald Trump withdrew.
Western officials have pointed to the Iranian marches as evidence that Russia, historically one of the world’s largest arms exporters, is depleting its arsenal with battlefield losses.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that the United States had “a lot of evidence” that Russia had used Iranian war drones in Ukraine, noting that this evidence was irrefutable even if Tehran continued to ” lie and deny it. “
“We will not hesitate to impose sanctions and other appropriate measures against all those involved in these operations to transfer” drones from Iran to Russia, he added.
According to a French diplomatic source, “On Friday the UN Security Council will hold a (public) meeting on civilian protection, at the request of France and Mexico, to discuss the issue of indiscriminate attacks on civilians that could amount to” war on crimes. “.
