The US and EU have moved to expand sanctions on Iran after the regime's weekend attack on Israel.
Washington said it would impose new sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone program and expected its allies and partners to follow with parallel measures.
“These new sanctions and other measures will continue a steady drumbeat of pressure to contain and degrade Iran’s military capacity and effectiveness and confront the full range of its problematic behaviors,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
Mr Sullivan also said the US military would work to strengthen missile defence and early warning systems across the Middle East “to further erode the effectiveness of Iran’s missile and UAV capabilities.”
“These new sanctions and other measures will continue a steady drumbeat of pressure to contain and degrade Iran’s military capacity and effectiveness and confront the full range of its problematic behaviors,” Sullivan said in a statement.
Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Brussels was starting work on expanding sanctions against Iran after Tehran’s attack on Israel.
Speaking after an emergency online meeting of EU foreign ministers, Mr Borrell said the bloc would look to toughen measures against Iran’s supplies of weaponry — including drones — to Russia and proxy groups around the Middle East.
“Some member states propose the adoption of expanded restrictive measures against Iran,” Mr Borrell said.
The EU’s top diplomat said he was requesting his service “start the necessary work related to the sanctions”.
EU foreign ministers held urgent talks after Iran’s unprecedented weekend drone and missile onslaught against Israel, which caused little damage.
Their meeting came on the eve of a two-day EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, during which the dangerous escalation in the Middle East will loom large on the agenda.
Mr Borrell said the EU countries roundly reiterated their condemnation of Iran’s attack and backed Israel’s right to self-defence.
“We have to move away from the edge of the abyss,” Borrell said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the “positive trend towards the adoption of sanctions against Iran” on X, formerly Twitter.
The EU has already slapped sanctions on Iran for supplying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and has threatened to punish Tehran if it provides missiles to Moscow.
Mr Borrell said some member states had raised the possibility of adding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to the EU’s terrorist blacklist, but he noted this first required a legal ruling in a member state.
AFP
