The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced, on the evening of Tuesday 16 April, that the European Union would be working on new sanctions against Iran, following the drone and missile attacks on Israel over the weekend.
Following a video conference of EU foreign ministers, Mr Borrell said that they had all strongly condemned the attacks and reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to Israel’s security.
According to him, several Member States have proposed expanding the restrictive measures against Iran. The European External Action Service will begin work on this. “The idea is to broaden the sanctions regime on drones linked to Iran and Russia in two directions: the type of arms to include the possibility of sanctions for the supply of missiles, and the regional dimension so that this regime can also apply to deliveries from Iran to proxies in the Middle East”, explained the High Representative.
In July 2023, the EU adopted a framework of restrictive measures relating to Iran’s military support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which prohibits the supply to Tehran of components used in the production of drones. “We are looking at the regime and will see what types of components it can be expanded to or what circumventions the regime is suffering from”, added Mr Borrell.
Call for calm
The High Representative also stressed the need for European unity to avoid further escalation and called for restraint on all sides, warning that the Middle East was “on the brink of an abyss”. “We are hurtling towards an abyss. We must move away from the edge of the abyss”, he insisted, expressing concern that an escalation in responses to attacks could lead to an “all-out war”. “We don’t need a war that sets the whole region ablaze”, stressed the High Representative.
He also reiterated that lasting peace in the region will not be possible if the war in Gaza continues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains unresolved.
Mr Borrell announced that the situation in the Middle East would be discussed on Monday by European foreign and defence ministers and at a meeting with their Gulf Cooperation Council partners. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)