European Union countries have joined France and Britain in a tougher stance on Iran, including the consideration of new economic sanctions, European diplomatic sources said. The sanctions could include freezing assets, a travel ban on Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ballistic missile program, according to Reuters quoted unnamed diplomats. This new European approach is close to US President Donald Trump's policy of isolating Iran and imposing severe sanctions on Iran.
Diplomats said the assassination plots, which Iran faces charges of orchestrating on French and Danish territory in 2018, were the last straw for Europe. "Over the past few months, some countries have been awakened by accusations against Iran," said one diplomat from the Middle East. In Europe, which was against a more aggressive policy with Iran ».
Diplomats made the remark after a landmark incident in Tehran on January 8 during a meeting with European envoys, where Iranian officials suddenly stood up and violently closed the door in an unusual breach of the protocol.
French, British, German, Danish, Dutch and Belgian diplomats in a room at the Iranian Foreign Ministry have annoyed Iranian officials with the message that Europe can no longer tolerate ballistic missile tests in Iran and plots of murder on European soil, according to four European diplomats.
"There were a lot of unexpected circumstances, they did not like it, but we felt we had to move our serious concerns, and that shows that the relationship is becoming more tense," one of the four diplomats said.
The day after the meeting, the EU imposed its first sanctions on Iran since world powers reached an agreement in Vienna in 2015 with Tehran on curbing its nuclear program. The sanctions were largely symbolic, but the stormy meeting involved an unexpected shift in European diplomacy, Since the end of last year.
Western powers were concerned by Iran's launch of short-range ballistic missiles on Syria on September 30, missile tests and the launch of an artificial satellite this month.
On the same day the meeting was held, the Netherlands publicly blamed Iran for killings on its territory in 2015 and 2017. The following day, the EU classified a unit of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence as a terrorist organization and froze its assets, as well as the assets of two men.
"The Dutch, for example, remained very calm until the Dutch attack, but now their position is tougher than France," the diplomat said.
"The United States welcomes Europe's efforts to counter Iran's terror on European soil, launch missiles, violate human rights and other threats," a State Department official said.
Last year, Iran's Trump administration accused Iran of having nuclear ambitions and further destabilizing the Middle East by supporting militant groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. In meetings involving European and Iranian diplomats last year, Britain, France and Italy tried to lobby for Iran took initiatives with regard to its role in the Syrian war and helped end the conflict in Yemen, but many bilateral talks on the ballistic missile program did not produce results.
"There is a sense of frustration between Britain, France, Germany and other countries, after the first phase of diplomatic efforts with Iran," said another senior diplomat in the European Union. "We thought we could push the Iranians to make some effort on several levels."
In March, as part of efforts to persuade Trump to abide by the nuclear deal, France, Britain and Germany proposed freezing the assets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Iranian companies and groups, developing Iran's missile program and imposing a travel ban on it, according to a document seen by Reuters. Diplomats said that a series of similar measures were being prepared.
"We prefer not to take these measures, but they have to stop trying to kill people on our territory, and over the past three years they have developed their ballistic missile program," said a senior European diplomat.
The diplomats stressed that the governments of Eastern Europe may continue to take action against Iran, to satisfy Trump, in exchange for security guarantees against Russia, pointing out that the conference called by the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and will continue for two days in Poland, in February, will address the Middle East, Specifically Iran.