The European Union plans to sanction several Iranian companies for supplying armed drones to Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, according to Politico.
Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards had given Russia drones “to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” von der Leyen said in a press statement. “This is why, for the first time ever, we are adding third-country entities to the Russian dual use sanctions.”
A total of seven Iranian companies now face a complete ban on selling sensitive items to Russia, von der Leyen said, adding that more companies from other countries might be added to the list later.
The bans are part of a wider sanctions package the European Commission is putting forward and which it hopes will be adopted before the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. It would be the EU’s 10th round of sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s war economy. EU ambassadors, meeting today, still need to agree to the plans.
“Putin is not only waging a brutal war on the battlefield, but he’s also viciously targeting civilians, and the aggressor has to pay for this,” said von der Leyen.
Russia has repeatedly launched Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze attack drones in its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
The EU will also target Russian disinformation and impose more trade restrictions on industrial and dual-use products, von der Leyen said, and ban the export of more electric components that can be used in Russian weapons systems. “With this, we have banned all tech products found on the battlefield,” she said.
The Commission is also set to sanction almost 100 additional people and companies, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the same press conference.