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EU Foreign Affairs Representative Borrell, Foreign Minister Baerbock
Photo: Janine Schmitz / photothek / IMAGO
Iran supplies not only Russia, but also radical Islamists in the Middle East with missiles and drones.
Germany and eight other EU states are now calling for new sanctions.
This emerges from a letter from Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and several counterparts to EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell.
In Iraq and Syria, pro-Iranian militias used Iranian drones and missiles to carry out increasingly numerous attacks against the global coalition against the terrorist militia “Islamic State,” according to the letter, which SPIEGEL has seen.
The Hezbollah militia in Lebanon also receives these weapons from Iran, as do the Houthis in Yemen, who use them to attack ships in the Red Sea.
Iran itself also attacked Iraq, Syria and Pakistan with missiles and also killed EU citizens, including an eleven-month-old baby.
Tehran's drone and missile programs and its "regional strategy of destabilization" are therefore "a direct threat to the security of our regional partners and to our fundamental European interests," write the ministers.
Therefore, the existing sanctions against Iran because of its arms deliveries to Russia must be expanded with “extreme urgency”.
In the future, they should also target Iran's missile and drone industry and all actors who supply terrorist organizations with such weapons.
But Borrell's reaction is a long time coming.
The letter, which, in addition to Baerbock, was signed by the foreign ministers of France, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and the Netherlands, is dated February 19th.
But so far Borrell has apparently not responded to it.
The Foreign Office is still waiting for a response from the Spaniard, and according to reports nothing has been received at the Brussels representations of the EU states.
A spokesman for the EU Foreign Service (EEAS), led by Borrell, said that as a matter of principle they do not comment on exchanges between Borrell and the member states.
The procedure surrounding sanctions is also confidential, and in the end only the EU states can decide unanimously on new punitive measures.
The first point of contact, however, is Borrell's EAD: He must submit proposals for sanctions to the EU states, which they can then decide on.
The Green MEP Hannah Neumann shows little understanding for the lengthy process.
“The EU is sending a mission to the Red Sea to protect merchant ships from drone attacks by the Houthis,” she said, referring to the “Aspides” mission, in which the German frigate “Hessen” is also involved.
"At the same time, since November we have not been able to sanction those who deliver these drones from Iran." It shows once again "how little the EEAS and individual member states are prepared to follow their clear words with political action."