Czech EU Council Presidency on Thursday said European Union countries adopted sanctions on Iran over Iranian-made drones supplied to Russia and used in strikes on Ukraine.
The punitive measures were expected to enter into force on Thursday once they were published in the EU Official Journal, a legal register for EU regulations.
Three individuals and one entity were to have their potential assets in the EU frozen and banned from travelling to the bloc.
Sanctions on two individuals and two entities were to be reinforced.
In recent days, the Russian army had increasingly fired Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at Ukrainian energy facilities as well as on cities. Both Moscow and Tehran deny an arms deal relating to the drones.
EU foreign affairs ministers first discussed sanctioning Iran over its supply of drones to Russia on Monday together with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
The EU had repeatedly imposed sanctions on Iran since the United Nations started adopting resolutions requiring the country to stop enriching uranium with the purpose of creating a nuclear weapon, starting in 2006.
Additionally, the bloc had implemented a number of economic and financial measures, including trade and transport restrictions as well as freezing the assets of major Iranian banks.
The last round of sanctions was imposed on Tehran on Monday over the ongoing violent crackdown on anti-government protests, triggered by the death of a woman in custody.
dpa/NAN
