European Union countries impose additional sanctions on Iran after the attack on Israel

Noos News•Today at 19:57

European Union countries are imposing additional sanctions on Iran following last weekend’s attack on Israel. This was announced by the Foreign Minister of the European Union, Josep Borrell, after a meeting of the EU’s foreign and defense ministers in Luxembourg.

“This is about imposing sanctions on ballistic missiles and the ballistic missile defense industry,” Foreign Minister Bruins Sloat said. These measures prevent individuals or companies from supplying materials that Iran can use to build missiles.

Iran attacked Israel on the night of April 13-14 with hundreds of missiles and drones. It came in response to the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus that killed a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Almost all Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted by Israel and its allies. However, the European Union believes it is important to send a signal to Iran through sanctions.

EU ministers also discussed whether to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. This elite army is said to have carried out the attack on Israel. The United States designated the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization in 2019. Last year, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to do the same.

In order for the Revolutionary Guard to be included in the European list of terrorist organizations, it must also be approved by the European Council of Ministers. European ministers did not do that today. According to Bruins Slot, one problem is finding the right legal basis for such a qualification.

According to her, this legal basis is necessary, otherwise the Court of Justice of the EU will annul the designation of a “terrorist organization”. The ministers decided that the Legal Service of the European Union would analyze “whether there are indications for inclusion in this list”.