Following the strike on Israel, the US and Britain impose sanctions on Iran for producing drones

Following Iran’s assault on Israel, the US on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on the country that are aimed at its manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles. US President Joe Biden said that the G7 leaders have pledged to work together to put further economic pressure on Tehran.

Along with Washington, Britain said that it will be imposing sanctions on Iran as well.

Biden stated that after assisting Israel in retaliating against the drone and missile attack on April 13, the US and its allies were now holding Iran responsible for the new export restrictions and penalties.

“The sanctions target leaders and entities connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s Defense Ministry, and the Iranian government’s missile and drone program that enabled this brazen assault,” Biden said in a statement.

“Unacceptable” was how British Foreign Secretary David Cameron described Iran’s actions.

Cameron said, “It  is a message to Israel that we want to play our part in having a coordinated strategy that deals with Iran’s aggression,” outside of an Italian meeting of foreign ministers from the main Western states that make up the Group of Seven (G7).

The US Treasury Department claimed that 16 people and two organizations that supported Iran’s UAV manufacturing were the targets of US sanctions. These companies included the engine manufacturers of Iran’s Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the assault on April 13.

Tehran claims that it launched the assault in response for an alleged Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1 that resulted in the deaths of two generals and several people.

Israel has threatened to react over Iran’s unprecedented use of drones and missiles, and a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards indicated on Thursday that Iran may reconsider its “nuclear doctrine” in response to Israeli threats.

TARGETS OF SANCTION
The Treasury added that it was also identifying five businesses across many countries that either bought completed steel products from Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC), one of Iran’s biggest steel manufacturers, or supplied KSC with component ingredients for steel manufacturing.

Three Bahman Group firms, which the Iranian carmaker said had substantially helped the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were also targeted.

The US Commerce Department said in a separate statement that it was further limiting Iran’s access to “low-level technology” and expanded the list of goods that need a license to be exported or reexported to Iran to include goods manufactured overseas using U.S. technology.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and the Armed Forces General Staff were among the six organizations and seven people that Britain said it was sanctioning.

Over the years, the West has repeatedly placed sanctions on Iran; Britain claims to have put over 400 distinct economic sanctions on Israel’s most formidable adversary.

Leaders of the European Union also resolved on Wednesday to intensify sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran’s assault on Israel, which sparked fears of a larger Middle East war.