Sanctions were imposed on three Iranian nationals and one company on October 20 for the supply of drones that reportedly carried out attacks in Ukraine, according to the EU’s “Official Journal.”
Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Director of the Industrial Research Unit under the Defense Ministry, General Syed Hojatollah Ghoreishi, and Brigadier General Syed Aghajani, Commander of the Aerospace Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were sanctioned. In addition, the drone maker Shahed Aviation Industries has been sanctioned.
Sanctions come into force from the moment of publication in the Official Journal.
The day before, a senior European official told reporters in Brussels that the EU had sufficient evidence to impose these sanctions.
Buy Coal for EU citizens
Responding to the sanctions against him, Maj Gen. Mohammad Bagheri has advised Brussels on what it may do with any of his assets that may be discovered.
In a statement released on Sunday, he wrote (loosely translated, Ed), “Four days ago, the European Union put my name on its sanctions list because of what it called “sending unmanned drones from Iran to Russia”! Previously, on November 13, 1998, the US Treasury had made such a mistake by including my name in its sanctions list.
The anger of America and its sequel, the European Union, is, of course, understandable. From the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic were included in the list of sanctions, but our armed forces made an opportunity out of this threat. If they would have spared barbed wire from our fighters, today they are lining up to buy Iranian missiles and drones.”
In fact, it is the Europeans who, by taking the path to the dead end of their master America, have suffered from the problem of “self-sanction of the truth”.
We have a proverb in Farsi that says: “Blindness is the blind man’s walking stick.” Or as the English say: “The blind leading the blind.”
But I have a humanitarian proposal to the European Union; From today, I give them the power to implement the sanction they have prepared, they are allowed to identify and confiscate all the properties and assets of Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri in banks around the world and use them to buy coal for European citizens, a difficult winter is ahead.”
Reasons for the EU sanction against the three Iranian generals
The following are the reasons for EU to sanction the three Iranian generals:
Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri is in charge of the military drone programme and plays a crucial role in Iran’s defence collaboration with Russia.
Additionally, Bagheri exports Iranian drones. He established a manufacturing line for the export of Ababil-2 drones in Tajikistan.
In addition, he contributed to the creation of Mohajer-6 drones and their transfer to the Russian Federation for use in the conflict against Ukraine.
– Head of the Department of Supply, Research and Industrial Affairs in the Ministry of Defense and Logistics of the Iranian Armed Forces (MODAFL), General Syed Hojatollah Qureishi . He is responsible for negotiating an agreement with Russia on the supply of Iranian-made drones for use in the aggressive war against Ukraine.
The EU stated that General Syed Hojatollah Qureishi is liable for supporting measures that undermine or endanger Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.
– Brigadier General Said Aghajani – commander of the UAV of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Aerospace Forces (IRGC VKS), which is the basis of the Iranian drone program.
Aghajani oversees and directs the planning, equipping and training of Iranian UAV operations, which also includes the supply of drones to Iran’s international allies, including Russia.
More measures to come
On October 24th, Peter Stano, the spokesperson for EU ambassador Josep Borrell, said that the decision to impose sanctions on Iran for delivering drones to Russia was decided by member states based on facts.
In addition, he noted the EU’s expressed desire to monitor this matter, and if more proof of the continuing of such acts emerges, the EU would react appropriately once again.
“We will take other measures if there is evidence that such shipments continue,” Stano said in response to a question about why the EU Foreign Affairs Council did not impose sanctions on Iran for the supply of drones on October 17, claiming a lack of evidence, and by October 20, the decision was taken in a rush.
“The Iranians deny any intervention (in the Ukrainian conflict, Ed,), but we have collected enough evidence to give grounds for a decision (on sanctions, Ed.), based on this evidence,” Borrell’s representative said, without specifying the evidence.