The European Union (EU) has imposed sanctions on several individuals and entities from Iran and North Korea, accusing them of assisting Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, according to the EU Council’s press office.
The statement from the press office reads, “Today, the Council has imposed sanctions on six additional individuals and three legal entities due to North Korea’s sanction evasion activities, which potentially fund its illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs, in blatant disregard of UN Security Council resolutions.”
The statement continues, “These sanctions also take into account the military support provided by North Korea to Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.”
The EU highlighted that Russia is using Iranian-made drones, indicating that Iran’s state-funded drone development and production program violates the United Nations Charter and fundamental principles of international law.
Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani and several senior Iranian officials have been added to the EU’s blacklist.
In mid-May, the United States imposed sanctions on two Russian nationals, accusing them of organizing arms supplies from North Korea.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also sanctioned three companies linked to these individuals.
Both the United States and the EU accuse North Korea of supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia, an allegation that Pyongyang has strongly denied.