The EU countries have introduced new sanctions against Iran over its support of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The punitive measures are intended to affect people and organizations responsible for the construction and delivery of Iranian drones to Russia, as several diplomats confirmed to the German Press Agency in Brussels on Wednesday.

Specifically, it is planned to sanction five people and three organizations. They are likely to be subject to entry bans and asset freezes. In some cases, penal measures are taken against them for other reasons.

The sanctions still had to be formally confirmed in the written procedure in the capitals. This should be done by Thursday morning. In order to come into force, they then have to be published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Attacks with combat drones from Iran

Russia had repeatedly attacked Ukraine in the past few days with Iran's single-use Shahed 136 combat drones. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, there have been more than 100 attacks with so-called kamikaze drones since last week. The leadership in Tehran denies having supplied Russia with the disposable drones.

On the other hand, a spokeswoman for the EU Commission said on Wednesday that there was now sufficient evidence that the drones came from Iran. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had already spoken out in favor of further sanctions against the country if the delivery of the drones by the Islamic Republic to Moscow was proven.

The EU had already imposed sanctions on the Iranian moral police and more than a dozen other people and organizations on Monday. However, these punitive measures are not related to the Russian war against Ukraine, but to the death of 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini and the brutal suppression of protests in Iran.