EU announces sanctions on Iran’s shipping lines

The European Union has announced sanctions on Iran’s shipping lines over claims it has been involved in the supply of weapons to Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said on Monday that it had imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani, and several other entities and individuals.

It said vessels, ports, and locks owned, operated, or controlled by those individuals and entities will be targeted by the sanctions, thereby prohibiting any transaction with them.

The EU claimed the individuals and entities have been involved in transporting Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and related technologies and components to Russia to use in the war in Ukraine.

The sanctions come more than a month after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran’s national airline Iran Air over the same claims.

Iran has repeatedly rejected accusations it has been supplying weapons to Russia for use in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on the X on Sunday that sanctions on the IRISL would backfire, adding that they would be against freedom of navigation as a basic principle of the law of the sea.

Araghchi said the EU’s targeting of Iran’s transport systems and travelers showed its behavior toward Iran has no legal, logical, or moral basis.

He said that even the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself had confirmed that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been delivered to Russia.

Experts say the EU’s imposition of sanctions on Iran under the pretexts of its involvement in the war in Ukraine is in line with the US government’s policy to pressure Tehran into new concessions amid reports that there could be a new round of negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

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