Western media reports say the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) EU have extended sanctions against Iran over its military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Reuters, citing the European Commission, reported on Monday that the European Union has widened its sanctions against Iran over Tehran's support of Russia in its war with Ukraine.
The European Commission said it had added the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani, among others, to its sanctions list.
The fresh sanctions are reportedly against vessels and ports used for transporting Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), missiles and related technologies and components. They include prohibiting any transaction with ports and locks owned, operated or controlled by the sanctioned individuals and entities.
The EU is also sanctioning three Russian shipping firms – MG Flot, VTS Broker, and Arapax – for transporting Iranian weapons, including drone parts, across the Caspian Sea to resupply Russian troops in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, official Tehran says the European sanctions undermine Iranians’ fundamental rights by targeting airlines and shipping.
IRNA reports that in a statement released on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the EU and UK’s sanctions on several Iranian entities and individuals, including IRISL, are “unjustifiable, inconsistent with international law, and in violation of the EU and UK’s commitments under the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).”
He said the EU and UK justify their sanctions by the “unfounded claim” that Iran supplied ballistic missiles to Russia, pointing out that even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself had acknowledged that no Iranian ballistic missiles had been delivered to Russia.
Therefore, he reiterated that using this claim as a pretext for sanctions against Iran is “completely unjustifiable and lacks legitimacy or any legal or rational basis.”
According to IRNA, the Managing Director of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization Ali Akbar Safaei also condemned the fresh sanctions and denied the “European accusations” as “baseless”.
