EU’s Borrell: Sanctions system needs to be widened in wake of Iran attack on Israel

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says there needs to be a review to improve the sanctions system in the wake of Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel.

“We will have to review the system” of sanctions “in order to enlarge it and make it more efficient,” Borrell tells reporters on the island of Capri, where the G7 is holding a meeting.

He says that since July 2023 there have been limits on exports to Iran by European firms of “the components that allow the production of these kind of arms.”

“So we will increase it,” he says.

“The important thing is the implementation of our decision,” he adds.

He also calls for restraint from Israel, saying the region is “on the edge” of war.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, has said it would soon impose new sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone program and said it expects allies to follow with parallel measures.

Iran’s drone and missile attack, launched in response to a deadly strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate widely blamed on Israel, has ratcheted up already sky-high tensions with the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza.