US, UK announce new sanctions on Iran after missile and drone strike on Israel

The United States and the United Kingdom announced widespread sanctions against Iran’s military drone programme on Thursday in response to its weekend attack against Israel.

Washington is targeting “16 individuals and two entities enabling Iran’s UAV production, including engine types that power Iran’s Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the April 13 attack,” the Treasury Department said in a statement, referring to Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle programme.

The United Kingdom is also imposing sanctions “targeting several Iranian military organizations, individuals and entities involved in Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile industries,” the Treasury Department said.

Israel’s Netanyahu is caught between hitting Iran and heeding allies

Tehran launched its first ever direct military attack on Israel late on Saturday in retaliation for an April 1 air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus – widely blamed on Israel – that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.

The large-scale attack involved more than 300 drones and missiles, most of which were shot down by Israel and its allies including the US and the UK, causing little damage.

In response to the attacks, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel reserves the right to protect itself.

“Today, in coordination with the United Kingdom and in consultation with partners and allies, we are taking swift and decisive action to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

“We’re using Treasury’s economic tools to degrade and disrupt key aspects of Iran’s malign activity, including its UAV programme and the revenue the regime generates to support its terrorism,” she continued.

“We will continue to deploy our sanctions authority to counter Iran with further actions in the days and weeks ahead,” she added.

What are Israel’s options for striking back at Iran?

Alongside its sanctions against Iran’s UAV programme, the US is also sanctioning five companies providing parts for Iran’s steel industry.

“Iran’s metals sector generates the equivalent of several billion dollars in revenue annually, with the majority coming from steel exports,” the Treasury Department said, adding it had also sanctioned a carmaker involved in providing “material support” to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

European Union leaders also vowed on Wednesday to ramp up sanctions on Iran, targeting its drone and missile deliveries to proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon.

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EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the existing EU sanctions regime would be strengthened and expanded to punish Tehran and help prevent future attacks on Israel. At the same time, he said, Israel needed to exercise restraint.

“I don’t want to exaggerate, but we are on the edge of a war, a regional war in the Middle East, which will be sending shock waves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe,” he warned. “So stop it.”