There were calls for fresh sanctions on Iran if killer drones that pummelled Kyiv on Monday prove to be Iranian-made, as the European Union agreed a separate package of measures in response to the regime’s crackdown on protesters.
EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to slap sanctions on four institutions and 11 Iranian individuals, including the country’s morality police chief, for their role in suppressing demonstrations that have swelled since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody.
Chief EU diplomat Josep Borrell said he was “appalled” at the death of the young woman following her arrest for wearing an insufficiently modest hijab, as well as at “the brutal crackdown of security forces against protesters, who continue to die or be detained”.
The 11 individuals and four entities singled out for sanctions are “those linked to the death of Mahsa Amini and to the repression of peaceful protesters,” Mr Borrell told journalists. “If needed, we are ready to add more names to this list,” he warned.
Rights groups have estimated that more than 100 people have died in a crackdown by Iranian security forces as they struggle to contain protests that erupted following Ms Amini’s death.
[ Iran protests over woman’s death continue despite crackdownOpens in new window ]
But no sooner had the sanctions related to the violence against protesters been agreed by the EU, than pressure began to mount for additional measures in response to accusations that Tehran has supplied its ally Russia with weapons used to invade Ukraine.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba joined the meeting of his EU counterparts by video conference from a bomb shelter, where he was hiding as Russia launched deadly drone strikes on Kyiv that killed at least four people.
The Iranian government has denied supplying the weapons used, though Ukraine’s military has shared images of what it says are the remains of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones, known as “kamikaze” or “suicide” drones as they carry explosives and detonate on impact.
Mr Borrell said that the “relevant intelligence services” were examining the evidence of the drones used. “We are following very closely the use of drones. We are gathering evidence and we will be ready to react with the tools at our disposal,” he said.
On the sidelines of the meeting, foreign ministers expressed outrage at the attacks, and some called for the EU to begin preparing a separate package of fresh sanctions on Iran related to the drones.
“Iranian drones are used apparently to attack in the middle of Kyiv, this is an atrocity,” said Denmark’s foreign minister Jeppe Kofod.
Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu said sanctions “should be worked out immediately” so that they can act as a deterrent to demonstrate that the supply of weapons “has consequences”.
Lithuania’s Gabrielius Landsbergis said there had to be “clear attribution” of where the weapons came from and called for this to “happen faster”.
“Iran with its drone and missiles is becoming an accomplice in the war,” he told journalists.
The increase in tensions is expected to hinder efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that curtailed Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for easing sanctions.
Governments including Britain and France have warned that in supplying drones, Iran would be in breach of a United Nations resolution that endorsed the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.
