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 EU’s new sanctions were agreed upon 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.
Israel has called on its allies to sanction Tehran’s missile programme and for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – a major military and political force in Iran – to be designated a terrorist organisation, something the US has done but the EU and UK have not.
The EU already has a wide range of measures in place which target Iran over its human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and military support for Russia.
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