The European Union on Thursday agreed to impose new sanctions on Iran for supplying drones to Russia, DW reports.
"EU ambassadors agreed on measures against entities supplying Iranian drones that hit Ukraine," the Czech EU presidency said on Twitter. "EU states decided to freeze the assets of three individuals and one entity responsible for drone deliveries [and] is also prepared to extend sanctions to four more Iranian entities that already featured in a previous sanctions list."
The EU said it has “evidence” that drones used by Russia in Ukraine were manufactured in Iran.
The organization vowed a “clear, swift and firm EU response.”
Ukraine has said that the Russian military is increasingly using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones to attack cities.
UN violation?
The EU sanctions come ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting on the drone attacks called by the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
The US argued that the drones violated a UN Security Council resolution passed in 2015.
The resolution banned Iran’s arms sales until it expired in 2020 but the US says the resolution continues to ban transfers that could benefit nuclear-capable ballistic missiles until 2023.
Ukraine in a letter on Thursday also accused Iran of violating the ban.
Russia, Iran deny:
Iran denied that it is selling drones to Russia.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has taken a clear and consistent position on the situation in Ukraine which has been pronounced since the start of the conflict,” Iranian UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told reporters, calling the claims “unfounded and unsubstantiated.”
Russian UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky also told reporters that the drones “are manufactured in Russia, so these are all baseless allegations.”
