Iran blasts EU sanctions on drone program

On Saturday, Iran condemned the European Union’s new sanctions targeting high-ranking officials and the Revolutionary Guards for allegedly supplying drones to Russia and its Middle East allies.

The EU’s sanctions, announced on Friday, target several individuals, including Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani and Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards. Other targets include an armed forces command center, the head of a state aviation firm, and the Kavan Electronics Behrad company.

Iran’s foreign ministry called the sanctions “regrettable,” arguing that they are based on “repeated, absurd, and baseless excuses and accusations.”

Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani stated, “The European Union has once again resorted to the obsolete and ineffective tool of sanctions against the powerful Iran.”

The sanctions prohibit any EU citizen or company from doing business with the listed individuals and organizations.

The United States and its allies, including Israel, have accused Iran of supplying drones to its Middle East allies, notably Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Additionally, Kyiv and its Western allies claim that Iran has provided drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war, a charge Iran denies.