EU TAKES ACTION AGAINST IRANIAN PARTICIPATION IN UKRAINE WAR
October 21, 2022 -Durt Fibo

Russian and Iranian coordination of goals began solidifying since as far back as 2015, when they formalized a joint operations and information center in Baghdad, Syria. Their modus vivendi has curled like peeling paint at times, but currently seems to have melded itself back together on the cities and fields of Ukraine. There they have unleashed an unremitting barrage of attacks on any infrastructure meant to keep the country alive and functioning. Ukrainian civilians are maimed and killed outright in the process.

Much of the widespread demolition of Ukraine has recently been inflicted by cheap Russian old-stock ‘dumb’ munitions, along with GPS-guided Iranian Shahed 136 (kamikaze) drones, which have a range of 1,500 miles. So much evidence of these survive that the region has been forced to accept Iran’s participation in the war, despite Tehran’s telemarketers’ voicemail-like denials.

According to Reuters, Iraniti, Al-Monitor and multiple other news agencies, Iran has already committed to selling ballistic missiles to Russia, for use against Ukraine, including Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar medium-range surface-to-surface missiles.

In June, Vladimir Putin had visited Tehran, where, aside from territorial and military spoils, increased economic cooperation was discussed in depth –with a resulting $40 billion contract for Gazprom to invest in Iranian gas and oil fields.

Finally –just yesterday– the Council of the EU’s official publication printed a decision by the European Union to condemn the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia, and impose sanctions on 3 Iranian individuals and one company, which specify freezing their assets, forbidding EU citizens and companies from making funds available to them, and a travel ban –which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territories. Several other persons and entities are also being considered for inclusion in the sanctions.

The Official Journal of the Council of the EU wrote: “Today’s decision is a signal of the EU’s resolve to respond swiftly and decisively to Iran’s actions supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine. The EU condemns the delivery of Iranian drones to Russia and their deadly deployment in the war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU will continue to respond to all actions supporting Russian aggression,”

The publication was commendably clear, saying that the sanctions have been imposed against three Iranian citizens: Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces; Sayed Hojatollah Qureishi, the Head of the Supply, Research, and Industrial Affairs Division at the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics; and Said AghaJani, a member of the Iranian drone development program. The company Shahed Aviation Industries, responsible for the design and development of Iranian kamikaze drones, was also listed.