Europe is in the eye of the Iranian storm: Ukraine is the cause.

Brussels – by Elijah J. Magnier:

A dispute has broken out in the corridors of the European Union and among its officials over how to punish Iran after the demonstrations failed to change the ruling system in the “Islamic Republic” or “liberate Iran”, as US President Joe Biden vows. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it will “support sanctions against Iran and the Revolutionary Guards”. She claimed to have heard (European) ministers support new sanctions. Meanwhile, her deputy and coordinator of foreign relations, Joeb Borrell, said a court must approve the IRGC blacklist: “The decision has to be approved by a European Court of Justice before the EU can act. You can’t say I consider you a terrorist because I don’t like you.”

On the other hand, Germany is enthusiastic and welcomes the blacklisting of the Revolutionary Guards. But France doesn’t want to go that far. As a compromise, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to impose sanctions on 30 Iranian individuals – the US and the UK followed suit – who will be banned from travelling to the EU and have their (non-existent) assets frozen. What is behind this sudden anti-Iran shift by the EU?

Senior Iranian sources said: “The whole issue is primarily related to the West’s failure to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin and bring Russia to its knees. So someone has to be blamed. The West has accused Iranian drones of playing a role in the ongoing war in Ukraine. So it is a US message to distance Iran from Russia, similar to the US pressure on China to prevent Beijing from supporting Moscow. However, the result of imposing sanctions on Iran is likely to be quite the opposite. Western sanctions against Iran and Russia had brought the two countries closer than ever before and raised their cooperation to an unprecedented strategic level”.

On the 18th of this month, a majority in the European Parliament voted to add the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to the EU’s list of terrorist organisations. The MEP suggested that the sanctions were imposed under the guise of the Revolutionary Guards’ role in suppressing the demonstrations that have been sweeping several parts of the country for several months but have recently subsided. However, the Revolutionary Guards have not taken part in any action against the demonstrators. Although the Basij force is considered part of the IRGC, anti-riot troops have been instructed not to use lethal force against demonstrators. However, dozens of civilians and security personnel have been killed, particularly in the north-west of Kurdistan-Iran on the Iraqi border and in Sistan-Baluchestan on the south-east borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan.