The European Union has widened sanctions against Iran over the country's support for Russia's war against Ukraine, including against ships and ports used to transfer drones and missiles.
The 27-member bloc said it had banned the export, transfer, supply or sale by the EU to Iran of components used to make missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Iran condemned the move, AFP reported.
The EU also banned any transaction with ports "owned, operated or controlled" by sanctioned individuals and entities or otherwise used to supply Russia with drones, missiles, related technology and components.
"This measure includes access to port facilities and locks, such as Amirabad and Anzali, and the provision of any services to vessels," the EU said in a statement at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Brussels.
Amirabad and Anzali are two Iranian ports on the Caspian Sea.
The bloc added that in certain circumstances, such as for maritime safety reasons, assistance could still be provided to ships in need.
The EU also adopted restrictive measures against Iran's state-owned shipping company IRISL, its director Mohammad Reza Hiabani and three Russian shipping firms accused of carrying weapons through the Caspian Sea.
Brussels had already imposed sanctions on prominent Iranian officials and entities, including airlines, accused of aiding Russia's war effort.
But Tehran has rejected Western accusations that it transferred missiles or drones to Moscow to use against Kiev.
Before the new sanctions were announced, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the EU was using the "non-existent pretext of missiles" to target the country's sea lines.
"There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such behaviour. If anything, it will only enforce what it ostensibly seeks to prevent. Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle of the law of the sea. When applied selectively by some, such shortsightedness usually tends to boomerang," Araghchi wrote on X.
Iran's economy is already reeling from US sanctions following Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai stated Tehran would decide how to respond. | BGNES
