EU to tighten Iran sanctions after Israel attack
The EU has agreed to expand sanctions on Iranian producers of drones and missiles following Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel.
“It’s very important to do everything to isolate Iran,” European Council President Charles Michel said.
The bloc already has multiple sanctions in place against Iran, including for selling drones to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
The US has hinted it will impose its own new penalties 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 1 April, 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.
But world leaders have continued to urge restraint, in a bid to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East.