The United States and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Iran on Thursday, targeting
"Iran's drone program, steel industry and automobile manufacturers
," following last weekend's attack on Israel. Washington's sanctions target
“16 people and two entities enabling the production of Iranian drones”
including the Shaheds which
“were used during the April 13 attack
,” the Treasury Department announced in a press release. They also concern three subsidiaries of the Iranian automobile manufacturer Bahman Group and the Iranian Ministry of Defense.
US President Joe Biden said the United States would continue to hold
Iran
“accountable”
with these new sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic. He assured that the sanctions were intended to
“limit Iran’s destabilizing military programs
,” according to a White House statement. The sanctions imposed by London target
“several Iranian military organizations, individuals and entities involved in the Iranian drone and ballistic missile industries
,” the Treasury said.
Iran launched more than 350 drones and missiles against Israel overnight from Saturday to Sunday, almost all of which were intercepted in flight. Tehran presented its attack as a response to the deadly strike attributed to Israel targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus in early April.
Avoid escalation
In response, Western countries have promised to strengthen their sanctions against Iran, but also want to avoid an escalation of violence in the region. The European Union thus decided, Wednesday at a summit in Brussels, to impose new sanctions targeting Iranian producers of drones and missiles. And on Thursday, the head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock indicated that the leaders of the G7 countries, meeting on the Italian island of Capri, are discussing
"additional measures"
, while insisting on the need to avoid
"an escalation »
.
G7 countries (US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy) are expected to call for individual sanctions against individuals involved in Iran's missile and drone supply chain, according to a source at within the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And the G7 finance ministers and central bankers, meeting in Washington, promised, in a statement Wednesday evening, to ensure
“close coordination of any future measures aimed at weakening Iran's capacity to acquire, produce or transfer weapons to support its destabilizing regional activities
. They also called for
“stability throughout the region, in view of the economic risks posed by regional escalation, in particular disruptions to international maritime transport”
.