New EU sanctions will not go unanswered: Tehran
EU, UK impose fresh bans on Iran’s shipping, aviation sectors
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei warned that new sanctions imposed by the European countries and the UK on the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
Baghaei made the remarks in a weekly press conference on Monday hours before the European Union announced new sanctions against Iran over what it claimed to be Tehran’s support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
He said Iran will reciprocate any “inappropriate action” against its interests.
The European Commission said on Monday it has added the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani – among others – to its sanctions list.
It also prohibited the export, transfer, supply or sale from the EU to Iran of components used to make missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The commission also said it banned any transaction with ports “owned, operated or controlled” by sanctioned individuals and entities or otherwise used to supply Russia with drone- and missile-related technology and components.
“This measure includes the access to facilities of the ports and docks, such as Amirabad and Anzali, and the provision of any services to vessels,” the EU said in a statement as the bloc’s foreign ministers met in Brussels.
Amirabad and Anzali are two Iranian ports on the Caspian Sea.
Also on Monday, Britain announced fresh sanctions against Iran, freezing the assets of its air and shipping carriers on the same excuse.
Iranian national carrier Iran Air and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines have been hit with an assets freeze, while the Port Olya-3 cargo ship would not be allowed to enter any UK port, the UK Foreign Ministry said.
The European Union, Britain and the US had already imposed sanctions on prominent Iranian officials and entities, including Iran Air over the alleged delivery of missiles to Russia.
Restrictive measures against Iran came after the United States in September claimed that Iran provided Russia with Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles as a boost to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Tehran, however, has repeatedly rejected the accusations, saying that remarks made by Ukrainian president about the missiles are quite clear that Iran has not delivered any missile to Russia.
In September, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there was no evidence yet that Russia had used Iranian ballistic missiles against Ukraine.