Zelensky pushes for 50-year sanctions on Iran after making ‘worthless’ accusations
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has submitted a draft resolution to the parliament proposing sanctions on Iran for a period of 50 years, over baseless allegations concerning Iran’s arms supply to Russia.
Introduced on Sunday, the bill includes a complete ban on trade with Iran, investments, and transferring technologies.
It forbids Iranian transit across Ukrainian territory as well as the use of its airspace and prevents the withdrawal of Iranian assets from the East European country.
The bill also prohibits the National Bank of Ukraine from registering an international payment system operated by Iran, obliging the cabinet, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Security Service to implement the anti-Iran restrictive measures.
The Ukrainian parliament is expected to back the sanctions bill, which has already been approved by the National Security and Defense Council.
The legislature has not scheduled the vote yet, according to its website.
Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the draft resolution is a response to Iran’s alleged arms supply to Russia.
In a video address last week, Zelensky claimed that Iranians were being dragged to “the dark side of history” over Tehran’s alleged supply of drones to Moscow.
In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani said the Ukrainian president had put up a “political show” full of “worthless” allegations in a bid to attract more Western arms.
“The repetition of false claims by the Ukrainian president against the Islamic Republic is in line with the propaganda and media war of the anti-Iranian axis against Iran’s government and people with the aim of securing as much arms and financial aid as possible from Western countries,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
Ukraine and Western countries have repeatedly accused Iran of providing Russia with military drones for use in the war, a charge categorically rejected by Tehran.
The anti-Iran claims first emerged last July, with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan alleging that Washington had received “information” indicating that the Islamic Republic was preparing to provide Russia with “up to several hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline” for use in the Ukraine military operation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in November dismissed media controversy over Iran’s alleged support for Russia in the war, adding, however, that Tehran had provided Moscow with a limited number of drones months before the operation in Ukraine.
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