EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on Monday to expand existing sanctions on Iranian drones to include missiles and their potential transfer to proxies such as Russia, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg.
European Union sanctions announced following Iran's attack against Israel are "regrettable" because the country was acting in self-defense, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian posted on X on Tuesday.
It is regrettable to see the EU deciding quickly to apply more unlawful restrictions against Iran just because Iran exercised its right to self-defence in the face of Israel’s reckless aggression. The EU should not follow Washington’s advice to satisfy the criminal Israeli…
— H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) April 23, 2024
"It is regrettable to see the EU deciding quickly to apply more unlawful restrictions against Iran just because Iran exercised its right to self-defence in the face of Israel’s reckless aggression," Amirabdollahian said on X, before calling on the EU to apply sanctions on Israel instead.
FM Israel Katz responds to the sanctions
Israeli FM Israel Katz later took to the social media platform X to express his support for the EU sanctions.
In a post written in Persian, Katz wrote, "The important decision of the European Union today to sanction the weapons programs of the Iranian regime sends a clear message to the authorities of the [regime]."
تصمیم مهم اتحادیه اروپا امروز برای تحریم برنامههای تسلیحاتی رژیم ایران با پیامی روشن به مقامات رژیم ایران @khamenei_ir.شکست سیاسی اینگونه است و این تازه آغاز کار است.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) April 22, 2024
The post tagged Iranian Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei.
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles on Israel in what it said was retaliation against a suspected Israeli bombing of its embassy compound in Damascus.
More work will need to follow in Brussels to approve a legal framework before the expansion of the sanctions can take effect.