EU Countries Implementing Sanctions Against Iran Following Attack on Israel

EU countries are introducing additional sanctions against Iran following last weekend’s attack on Israel. The head of EU foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, announced this after a meeting of EU foreign and defense ministers in Luxembourg.

“It has to do with sanctions on ballistic missiles and on the ballistic missile defense industry,” said outgoing Foreign Minister Bruins Slot. These measures prevent people or companies from providing materials with which Iran can build missiles.

Iran a lot Israel attacked on the night of 13 to 14 April with hundreds of rockets and drones. It was revenge for him bombing raid because of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Almost all of Iran’s missiles and drones have been intercepted by Israel and its allies. Nevertheless, the EU believes it is important to send a signal to Iran with the sanctions.

EU ministers also discussed whether they wanted to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group. This elite army is said to have carried out the attack on Israel. The United States designated the Guard as a terrorist organization in 2019. Last year, the European Parliament voted with a majority to do the same.

In order for the Guard to be included in the European list of terrorist organizations, the European Council of Ministers must also agree. The European ministers did not do that today. According to Bruins Slot, one of the problems is finding the right legal basis for such a certificate.

According to her, this legal basis is necessary because otherwise the European Court of Justice would dismiss the identification of a ‘terrorist group’. Ministers have decided that the Legal Service of the European Union will analyze “whether there are indications to be included in that list”.

The relationship between Iran and Israel has been problematic for decades. The Hamas attack on October 7 of last year put everything further: