EU and UK sanctions on Iran spark diplomatic showdown
The new sanctions imposed by the EU and the UK on Iran prompted an immediate reaction from the authorities in Tehran. The Hungarian ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Hungarian ambassador because of Hungary's current rotational presidency of the Council of the European Union. A protest about the sanctions imposed by the EU was lodged with him.
"Although the President of Ukraine admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles were sent to Russia, the measures taken by the European Union and the United Kingdom to impose sanctions on Iran are unjustified," stated Iranian diplomacy spokesperson Esmail Baghai in a press release.
EU foreign ministers decided on Monday in Brussels to expand sanctions on Iran for supporting the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, including transferring drones and missiles to Russia, mainly by sea.
Strike on Iranian ships and ports
The EU has banned EU entities from exporting, transferring, supplying, or selling components to Iran used for the development and production of drones and ballistic missiles. It also introduced a ban on transactions with ports and locks owned, operated, or controlled by companies listed on the sanctions list or used for the transfer of Iranian drones or missiles to Russia. This refers to ports and locks such as the Amirabad and Anzali ports located on the Caspian Sea.
London, for its part, announced that it has imposed sanctions on Iran Air and the Iranian public shipping enterprise IRISL.
