Mahsa Act To Be Incorporated Into White House Aid Bill To Weaken Iran

“We will ensure close coordination of any future measure to diminish Iran’s ability to acquire, produce, or transfer weapons to support its destabilizing regional activities,” read the statement released Wednesday by G-7 finance ministers following negotiations on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC.

The ministers also warned against any regional escalation and its concomitant economic risks, particularly those to international shipping.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who hosts this round of G7 summit, said Thursday that the foreign ministers of the group “will address the most sensitive issues on the agenda.” He elaborated, “We will certainly discuss the Middle East issue. We are friends of Israel, and we support Israel, but we want de-escalation in that area. We will also have to address how to sanction Iran in some way for the attack with hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel.”

“We will also have to deal with the other situation in the Middle East, and the maritime traffic through Suez and the Red Sea, an issue that involves all our countries since the merchant traffic is threatened by the Houthis,” he added.

Since November, Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis have been engaged in a blockade in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in a bid to force a ceasefire on Israel. The group launched its campaign to attack Israeli vessels but it has since expanded to all global shipping.

On Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship that they said was "affiliated with" Israel near the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders pledged more sanctions against Iran, urging the regime and its proxies to put an end to their attacks in the region.

The EU “will take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles,” said the statement issued Wednesday after the first day of the bloc leaders’ summit in Brussels.

On Saturday night, Iran launched its first ever direct offensive against Israeli territory with more than 350 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles.

French President Emanuel Macron stressed that the new sanctions should target “those who are helping to produce the missiles and drones that were used” in Iran’s offensive.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed the EU's decision to ramp up Iran’s sanctions, calling it “an important step on the way to defanging the snake.” According to Katz, “Iran must be stopped now before it is too late.”

Amid a wave of international condemnation, the Permanent Representatives of 48 countries at the United Nations condemned Iran’s attack on Israeli territory in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“We unequivocally condemn the April 13 attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its militant partners on the State of Israel, which involved launching several hundred ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and attack drones against multiple targets, and note this large-scale attack could have caused significant damage and loss of life,” read the statement.

They also lambasted Iran’s move to “violate” the airspace of several regional countries such as Jordan which helped intercept the barrage, noting that it endangered the lives of innocent people.

Following Tehran's attack on Israel over the weekend, sanctions against Iran are expected to be imposed in the coming days.

In a report titled "New sanctions, fake or real?" published on Wednesday, Tasnim stated that the new sanctions on Iran would be ineffective.

"The severity of the sanctions imposed over the years, especially in the last decade, has been at its highest level, and the Iranian economy has learned resilience and methods of circumventing these sanctions well," Tasnim’s report read.

Tasnim itself was sanctioned last year by the US, in connection “with the Iranian regime’s violent suppression of nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa ‘Zhina’ Amini.”

In a response to Iran’s attack, the US House of Representatives passed legislation aimed at countering China’s purchase of Iranian crude oil as part of a package of bills being brought to the floor.

Tasnim’s report claims that the demand for Iranian oil from major manufacturing countries like China acts as a constraint on Washington's ability to enforce new oil sanctions against Iran.

In the past months, Iran has heavily relied on exporting millions of barrels from floating storage to boost its oil exports to Beijing.

Earlier this week, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addressed Iran's ongoing oil exports despite US sanctions, stating that "...there may be more that [the US] can do".

The head of the Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce, Yahya Ale Eshaq, told Tasnim that the talk of increased sanctions is more of a psychological game and that given the risk of higher oil prices, "the Americans will not have much power" to impose sanctions.

The two-day summit in Brussels is the first meeting of the EU's 27 national leaders since Saturday's attack, more than six months into the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israel has signaled that it will retaliate but has not said how. The EU has urged Israel to exercise restraint while expressing readiness to tighten sanctions on Tehran.

"We have to adjust, to expand them (the sanctions) on Iran," French President Emmanuel Macron said in Brussels ahead of the summit.

"We are in favor of sanctions that can also target all those who help manufacture drones and missiles that were used in the attacks last Saturday and Sunday."

In the coming days, the US will also impose sanctions on Iran's missile and drone programs, as well as on entities that support the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Defense Ministry, according to Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser at the White House.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it was important that Israel "does not respond with a massive attack of its own".

The leaders will condemn the Iranian attack, reaffirm their commitment to Israel's security and call on all sides to prevent more tensions, including in Lebanon, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

"The EU is ready to take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles," said the statement.

Italy spoke separately ahead of G7 talks in favor of sanctions against those who supplied arms for the attack against Israel, as well as those behind attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Iran launched the attack on Saturday in response to an April 1 strike on a building adjacent to its embassy in Damascus which it blamed on Israel. Two IRGC generals and five senior officers meeting in the building were killed. Tel Aviv launched its military offensive in Gaza after Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7.

EU Divisions

The war in Gaza has exposed differences between EU countries, with some siding more with Israel and others more strongly criticizing its conduct while highlighting the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.

Several EU states have proposed expanding a sanctions scheme that seeks to curb the supply of Iranian drones to Russia for Moscow's war in Ukraine to include the provision of missiles and cover deliveries to Iranian proxies in the Middle East.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo backed introducing sanctions against Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps but Scholz said that required further legal checks.

On Tuesday, EU's top diplomat said the bloc's rules meant that could only happen if a national authority in the EU found that the group had been involved in terrorist activity.

Based on political decisions at the summit, EU foreign ministers are due to continue the sanctions work next Monday.

The United States and other Western governments hope new sanctions against Iran will help persuade Israel to limit its retaliation. Analysts say, however, Iran is unlikely to face severe punishment because of worries about boosting oil prices in a US election year.

With reporting by Reuters

This comes after the Iranian government had made preparations to safeguard their assets, which included activating the air force for possible strikes, and deployment of navy escorts for commercial Iranian ships in the Red Sea.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reports that they are in the process of evacuation at Iranian bases within Syria, especially where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) predominantly resides.

After launching more than 350 drones and missiles, officials in Israel warned of a counter strike without specifying what kind of response is to be expected.

The US, along with European nations, has urged Israel to refrain from retaliation that could escalate tensions further.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Britain’s former Prime Minister David Cameron had separate meetings Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which they echoed a message of de-escalation.

The Biden administration also plans to shore up the diplomatic effort with new economic sanctions on the IRGC and its economic links to Iran's missile and drone programs.

On the military front, it is reported that Iran ordered emergency protocols, especially in Syria, where the IRGC and Hezbollah have adjusted their presence and heightened security measures in anticipation of potential Israeli strikes.

Tehran also indicated that it would respond to any Israeli attack. “The smallest action against Iran’s interests will definitely be met with a severe, extensive and painful response against all its perpetrators,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said.

His threats came during an annual army parade which had been moved from its usual venue, a highway in southern Tehran, to a barracks north of the capital. Iranian officials gave no reasons for the venue change, and unlike in past years, the event was not live on state television. 

Speaking about the weekend air attack in which 350 plus drones and missiles were fired towards Israel a "limited action" and warned that in case of a more expansive assault "nothing will be left from the Zionist regime."

With the help from allies including the United States, the United Kingdom and Jordan, most of the deadly bombardment was intercepted.

The Saturday aerial assault was, Iran claims, in retaliation to an Israeli airstrike on April 1 that targeted the consulate of Iran in Syria, killing several of its staff from the Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.

Israel has not detailed its response to the Iranian attack immediately but has vowed action will be taken. Its allies called for restraint from all sides to avoid further escalation.