Iran denounces EU, UK sanctions over alleged missile transfers to Russia

Tehran: Iran has strongly condemned new sanctions imposed by the EU and Britain against some Iranian individuals and entities over the country’s alleged transfer of missiles and drones to Russia.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called the sanctions “unrealistic and baseless,” criticising the moves by the EU and Britain as “unjustified and in contradiction with international law principles and especially human rights”.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has called for a diplomatic solution to the differences between Russia and Ukraine while expressing opposition to war and conflict, Baghaei said, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also pointed to the involvement of some European countries, including Britain and Germany, in providing deadly weapons to Israel, which has been used in “genocide and aggression” in Gaza and Lebanon, saying those countries were accomplices in the “crimes” committed by Israel against Palestinian and Lebanese people.

He highlighted Iran’s “inalienable” right to engage in military cooperation with other countries, including Russia, to safeguard its national interests, security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Baghaei noted that Iran reserved the right to take countermeasures against and respond proportionately to the EU’s “illegal and unjustified” sanctions.