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EU for tougher sanctions against Iran

2024-04-17 09:34:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Josep Borrell

"The ministers ask all the actors in the region to withdraw from the radical attitudes that lead to the abyss!" With this strong appeal, EU Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell addressed him after the extraordinary meeting of EU Foreign Ministers via video conference. He said, Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel is a decisive escalation. The aim now should be to avoid further escalation. The political chess of kicking and counter-kicking must end, otherwise the Middle East could descend into complete chaos. No one can like that. The EU's foreign ministers are completely unanimous, the foreign policy official said, hinting that Israel and Iran are expected to withdraw from escalating actions.

Tougher sanctions against Iran

Several ministers and ministers, as well as the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, called for tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime. Borrell said that the existing sanctions and the possibility of expanding them are now being reviewed. The production of Iranian drones, which have so far been supplied to Russia and are currently being exported throughout the Middle East, can be sanctioned. Decisions on this are expected to be made next week.

Other ministers proposed imposing sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guard and elite military units. The EU Commissioner for Foreign Policy drew attention to the fact that these sanctions have been in place since last year. A classification of the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, similar to Hamas, has so far failed due to legal obstacles. For an official classification there must be a concrete act of the Revolutionary Guards towards the EU. So far there has been no announcement of such a case, Borrell said. But this is also intended to be passed to the EU Commission's lawyers for verification.

"Don't forget Gaza"

Earlier Josep Borrell praised the trip of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Israel. She will probably be able to influence something, according to the Spanish politician, because Germany has a strong connection with Israel. Borrell, who in Israel is considered close to the Palestinians, emphasized in Brussels that the EU stands steadfastly on Israel's side to protect it from attacks by Iran. "But the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip must not be forgotten," said the EU's foreign policy chief. He emphasized the joint demand of the EU ministers for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to free the Israeli hostages from the hands of Hamas terrorists and to enable the supply of the civilian population.

G7 continues consultations on the Middle East

On Wednesday (16.04.2024) the diplomatic corps will continue discussions on the Italian island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. The long-planned meeting of the foreign ministers of the seven Western industrialized countries and the representative of the EU, Borrell, takes place there. On the picturesque island, Iran, Israel, Hamas, the situation in the Gaza Strip and the crisis in the Middle East will be discussed, according to Italian diplomatic circles. In fact, according to planning, this meeting would be dominated by the topic of Russia's offensive war against Ukraine and other measures in support of Kiev.

The G7 will ask Iran to desist from further attacks against Israel. Iran's atomic weapons program is again criticized by the G7, as it was last year at the meeting of the G20 group of industrialized countries. Israel must admit that it was able to defend itself successfully against the Iranian attack and that a retaliatory attack is not necessary. This line was followed by the heads of state and government of the G7 countries during a video conference last week./ DW