What sanctions are imposed on Iran?

After the attack on Israel, the initiative of the United States and the EU to impose new sanctions on Iran, what is Russia saying?

The United States and the European Union said they were looking at imposing more sanctions on Iran after it attacked Israel earlier in the week.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she expects action to be taken 'in the coming days'. On the other hand, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc (a group of countries) is working on it.

Israel has urged its allies to impose sanctions on Tehran's missile program. The UN ban on the missile program expired in October last year. The sanctions were tied to a broader deal to curb Iran's nuclear program.

However, several countries, including the US, EU and UK, have maintained previous restrictions and added new restrictions. Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Harji Halevi said on Monday that Iran's attacks will not go unanswered. Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel on Saturday, April 13. More than 300 missiles and drones were launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen in the attack. But most of them have been destroyed by Israel and its allies.


Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1. 13 people were killed in that Syrian attack.

So far, Israel has only responded diplomatically to the attack. The country's foreign minister has called on more than 30 countries to impose sanctions on Iran's missile program.

A major military, political and economic force in Iran is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Israel has called for it to be designated as a terrorist organization. While the US has already done this, the UK has not yet.


On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Miz Yellen said, "With respect to the sanctions, I am fully optimistic that we will impose more sanctions against Iran in the coming days."

“We have not pre-screened the ban tools. But all options to disrupt Iran's terrorist financing remain on the table." "Iran is exporting some oil," he said, adding that Iran's oil exports "are a potential area that we can look into." We can take some steps there too."

Ms. Yellen said the United States has already used financial sanctions to isolate Iran and disrupt its ability to fund proxy groups and support Russia's war in Ukraine. This includes targeting more than five hundred individuals and organizations. Existing US sanctions on Iran already bar almost all American trade with the country.


US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan later said the new sanctions would target "Iran's missile and drone programs" as well as the country's Revolutionary Guards and Defense Ministry.

"We hope that our allies and partners will soon implement their own sanctions," he added. "These new sanctions and other measures will continue to undermine Iran's military capabilities and effectiveness and counter its troubling behavior."


EU's top diplomat Mr. Borrell said some member states have asked to increase sanctions on Iran.

He said he would request the EU's diplomatic service to "initiate the necessary work on sanctions".

Israeli Foreign Minister Kurtz welcomed the "positive trend towards sanctions" in a post on social media X (formerly Twitter). World leaders have called for a major escalation in the Middle East after the latest attack.

US President Joe Biden has voiced support for Israel like ironclads. He said he believes Israel should be declared victorious in this episode.

In a phone call Tuesday evening, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps in response to the attack. "He insisted that no one was interested in a counter-attack because it would deepen insecurity in the Middle East. This is a time that needs to be approached with a cool head," a Downing Street spokesman said.



The G7 group of the world's seven richest countries is now "coordinating a diplomatic response".

Iran has indicated that it will consider the matter "finished" if Israel does not respond to the Iranian attack. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned that "the slightest move against Iran's interests will surely be met with a harsh, widespread and painful response".

After talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on Tuesday, the Kremlin said Iran's ally Russia had also called for "restraint".

"Vladimir Putin hopes that all parties will exercise reasonable restraint and prevent any new conflict that would have catastrophic consequences for the entire region," the Kremlin said.