JEDDAH: The regime in Tehran faces tough new sanctions from Europe for supplying deadly drones that Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.
European foreign ministers will meet on Monday to discuss the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia and are expected to reach a political agreement on future sanctions.
Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks in recent weeks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. The most recent attack was on Thursday, when three drones operated by Russian forces attacked the small town of Makariv, west of Ukraine's capital Kyiv. Officials said critical infrastructure was struck by what they said were Iranian-made “suicide drones.”
Leading European countries believe Tehran’s supply of drones to Russia is a breach of UN Security Council resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
An arms embargo on Iran imposed under the resolution expired in October 2020, but the resolution still includes restrictions on missiles and related technologies that last until October 2023 and cover the export and purchase of advanced military systems.
France and Germany, both parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, have made it clear they believed the drone transfers were a violation of the UN resolution, and that new sanctions were necessary.
A diplomatic source said the drones also fell under the Missile Technology Control Regime, an agreement by35 states that seeks to limit the proliferation of missiles, missile technology and drones. Iran is not a signatory to that agreement, but Russia is.
The US imposed sanctions last month on an Iranian company for coordinating military flights to transport Iranian drones to Russia, and three other companies involved in the production of Iranian drones.
The new discussion on drones comes as EU foreign ministers prepare to rubber-stamp sanctions on Iran on Monday over human rights abuses in Iran’s violent crackdown on protests that began last month after the death in morality police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. More than 200 Iranians have been killed by security forces in a wave of demonstrations sweeping the country.
Iran has complained about the imminent new sanctions, but “they can't expect the EU to stay silent in the face of these mass human rights violations,” one European diplomat said.
