U.S., ALLIES PLAN MORE SANCTIONS ON IRAN AFTER UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK ON ISRAEL

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM: The US and its allies planned fresh sanctions against Iran over its unprecedented attack on Israel, seeking to dissuade Israel from a major escalation.

While Saturday night’s attack caused no deaths and little damage thanks to the air defences and countermeasures of Israel and its allies, it has increased fears that violence rooted in the six-month-old Gaza war is spreading, with the risk of open war between long-time adversaries Iran and Israel.

Hoping to steer Israel away from massive retaliation, the US and Europe flagged a toughening of economic and political sanctions against Iran.

The US is planning to impose new sanctions targeting Iran’s missile and drone programme in the coming days and expects its allies will be following suit, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.

Earlier, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States would use sanctions, and work with allies, to keep disrupting Iran’s “malign and destabilising activity”.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking in Brussels after an emergency video conference of EU foreign ministers, said some member states had asked for sanctions against Iran to be expanded and that the bloc’s diplomatic service would begin working on the proposal.