EU to Impose New Sanctions on Iran, Diplomats Say
The European Union will
add 37 individual entries to its sanctions against Iran on Monday, two European
diplomats told Reuters, as the bloc works on listing Tehran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
"We will adopt the
fourth package of sanctions against Iran on Monday, and we believe we should
already start working on the fifth one to list IRGC as a terrorist
organization," said one of the sources, an EU diplomat.
The IRGC was set up
shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shiite clerical ruling
system and provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces. It has an
estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units. It also
commands the Basij religious militia, a volunteer paramilitary force loyal to
the clerical establishment that is often used to crack down on anti-government
protests.
Relations between EU
member states and Tehran have deteriorated as efforts to revive nuclear talks
have stalled. Tehran has also detained several European nationals, and the bloc
has become increasingly critical of its continuing violent crackdown on
protesters and the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia.
Both sources said 37
new names would be blacklisted for human rights violations when the bloc's
foreign ministers meet Monday. The sanctions would mean the IRGC members would
not be allowed to travel to the EU, and any assets they hold in Europe would be
frozen.
The two diplomats
added, however, that the IRGC would not be sanctioned as an organization — yet.
"If you do this,
it has to be legally sound, and that is being discussed right now. But it won't
be ready for Monday," one of them said.
The EU's chief
executive, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, this week backed
the listing of the IRGC as a terrorist organization in response to what she
said was the trampling of fundamental human rights in the Islamic republic.
Iran warned on Thursday
that the EU would "shoot itself in the foot" if it designated the
guards as a terrorist entity, a day after the European Parliament called on the
EU and its member states to do so.
The sources said there
was still some debate among the 27-bloc members, but that France, which had
previously held reservations, was now backing the move.
One of the diplomats
said Paris' stance had in particular toughened, with seven of its citizens
being detained in the country. On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry demanded the
immediate release of Bernard Phelan, a Franco-Irish national, whose health has
significantly deteriorated.
VOA
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