EU Ambassadors Approve Sanctions against Iran for Attacks Using Shahed Kamikaze Drones on Ukraine

On Wednesday, the ambassadors of the European Union member states approved sanctions against Iran for its involvement in the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine. 

The decision will be further approved by a written procedure with subsequent publication on Thursday.

"The sanctions were approved against three individuals and a drone manufacturing company," a European diplomat said, as Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.

According to the document available to the news agency, the sanctions were imposed against Shahed Aviation Industries, the company responsible for the design and development of the Iranian Shahed UAV. 

"A secret series of drones was supplied to the Russian Federation and is being used in an aggressive war against Ukraine. Consequently, Shahed Aviation Industries is responsible for supporting the government of the Russian Federation, guilty of annexing Crimea and destabilising Ukraine," the document says.

The sanctions list also includes the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General, Mohammad-Hossein Bagheri, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Corps, Saeed Aghajani, and Hojatollah Qureish, who is in charge of logistics at the Iranian Defence Ministry.

Officially, Tehran continues to insist that it has not transferred weapons to Russia, including kamikaze drones, which have recently been massively deployed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said that Ukraine is ready to hand over the "bag of evidence" to EU countries that have doubts about Russia's use of Iranian drones.

Unofficial information states that Iran plans to transfer even more drones and surface-to-surface missiles to Russia.