EU ministers to mull widening Iran sanctions, declaring IRGC as a terror group

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – European Union foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg tomorrow to discuss expanding sanctions on Iran and bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses.

The EU already has multiple sanctions programs against Iran – for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights abuses and supplying drones to Russia.

The ministers will seek agreement on how much further to go in sanctioning Iran, following Tehran’s missile and drone attack on Israel the weekend before last.

EU leaders agreed last week they would impose further sanctions against Iran, with many calling to widen the drone-related sanctions regime to cover missiles and transfers to Iranian proxy forces in the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

EU countries are also debating whether to impose fresh sanctions related to missile production, according to diplomats, while some are also pushing for the EU to find a way to designate Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards force as a terrorist organization.

While the ministers will also discuss the war in Sudan, most of their focus will be on the conflicts raging on the 27-member bloc’s eastern and southern doorsteps – in Ukraine and the Middle East crisis sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.