EU to discuss potential sanctions on Iran
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A European Union (EU) diplomat said on Monday the bloc could impose new sanctions on Iran after its recent attack on Israel.
Nabila Massrali, the EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that any sanctions in response to the Iranian attack on Israel will be decided by the member states, according to Euronews.
“We don’t pre-announce, we don’t pre-empt that process because it’s confidential,” the spokesperson added.
On April 1, five officers and two generals of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, were killed in an attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus.
Iran accused Israel of the strikes and launched a retaliatory attack with more than 100 drones and missiles toward Israel on April 14. However, Israeli air defense systems and U.S. and UK forces shot down most of the drones over Syria, Iraq, and Jordan and deterred almost all of the attacks before crossing into Israeli territory.
The EU is slated to hold a council meeting of the member states’ foreign ministers by video conference on Tuesday to discuss its collective response to the Iranian attack.
The EU has previously sanctioned Iran for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and repeated violations of human rights.