US, EU eye new sanctions on Iran after record attack
The United States and the European Union have said they are looking at imposing further sanctions on Iran, after its attack on Israel at the weekend.
Israel has urged its allies to sanction Tehran’s missile programme.
United Nations sanctions over the programme expired in October.
Those sanctions had been linked to a wider deal to limit Iran’s nuclear programme.
However a number of countries including the US, EU and UK maintained sanctions and added new ones, as per the BBC.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, said on Monday that the Iranian attack would not go unanswered.
Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel on Saturday saw a wave of more than 300 missiles and drones fired from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, with most being downed by Israel and its allies.
Tehran said the attack was retaliation for a presumed Israeli air strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April, in which 13 people were killed.
So far, Israel appears to have countered with only a diplomatic offensive. Its foreign minister urged more than 30 countries to impose sanctions on Iran’s missile programme.
It has also called for the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – a major military, political and economic force in Iran – to be designated a terrorist organisation, something the US has already done but the UK has not.
Speaking on Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Ms Yellen said: “With respect to sanctions, I fully expect that we will take additional sanctions action against Iran in the coming days.