European Union sanctions Iran over use of drones in Ukraine war

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The European Union on Thursday sanctioned three individuals and one entity from Iran for allowing Russia to use its military drones in attacks against Ukraine.

The EU Council said Iran's development and delivery of the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, used by Russia in its war against Ukraine has been "undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

"Today's decision is a signal of the EU's resolve to respond swiftly and decisively to Iran's actions supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine," the council said in a statement. "The EU condemns the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia and their deadly deployment in the war of aggression against Ukraine."

The EU said it continues to condemn Russia's war against Ukraine and called for an end to the attacks.

Russia accused the European Union of trying to "pressure" Iran and denied that it was involved in providing the drones. Moscow called its use of Iranian-supplied drones "rumors."

"Everything that is now being done on the Iranian track is subordinated to one goal -- pressure on this country," Maria Zakharova, the ministry's spokeswoman, said, according to Al Jazeera.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised the decision to penalize Iran.

"I welcome the EU's prompt action following my appeal on Monday to impose sanctions on Iran for helping Russia kill Ukrainians and damage our energy infrastructure," Kuleba said on Twitter. "In three days, the EU agreed on a set of restrictions which will take effect as soon as today."