TEHRAN – With Europe heaping sanctions on Iran day by day, Iranian officials have moved to rein in Europe’s hostility by reminding it of the need to avoid ill-advised decisions regarding Iran.

Relations between Iran and European Union have been on a slippery slope over the last few weeks due to a series of developments in Iran, Ukraine, and Austria. The hiatus in the Vienna talks over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal together with the Ukraine war and unrest in Iran have added another layer to the already simmering tensions between Iran and Europe. 

While the Europeans have sought in the past to avoid getting ahead of the U.S. in imposing sanctions on Iran, the recent wave of unrest, among other issues, prompted them to proactively slap sanctions and put in place restrictive measures against Iran, something that is seen by some in Tehran as another negotiating tactic aimed at extracting further concessions from Iran. 

The European Union has imposed sanctions on Iran for the alleged Iranian provision of drones to Russia for use in Ukraine and alleged violation of human rights during the unrest. Iran responded in kind while warning that sanctions can’t induce change in Iran’s policies. 

The Iranian foreign ministry announced a list of new designations targeting several European individuals and entities for their role in violating the human rights of the Iranian people. “The Islamic Republic of Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as per the ratifications of pertinent authorities and within the framework of relevant regulations and sanctions mechanisms and as reciprocation, places under sanctions the following institutions and individuals in the European Union region for their deliberate acts to support terrorism and terrorist groups, promote and incite terrorism and violence, and engage in hatred-mongering, which have caused rioting, violence, acts of terror, and violations of human rights against the Iranian nation,” the ministry said in a statement. 

The statement added that new sanctions “include bans on the issuance of visas and bans on the entry of the said individuals to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the confiscation of their properties in territory subject to the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran. All institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take necessary action to enforce these sanctions as per the ratifications of pertinent authorities.”

Meanwhile, Iranian officials warned Europe not to seek concessions through sanctions. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Wednesday that some European leaders have a failed view of the developments in Iran. He advised the Europeans not to press ahead with the unconstructive and failed path they used to take in the past years. 

“It’s clear to us that some European leaders have a failed view of the developments,” he said, according to IRNA. 

Responding to European allegations regarding the alleged Iranian provision of drones to Russia, Amir Abdollahian said, “I would like to emphasize that we reject the baseless accusation of some countries about Russian drones against Ukraine and invite the Ukrainian authorities to present any documents regarding this claim in a bilateral meeting at the level of Iranian and Ukrainian technical experts.”

He added, “We are against the war in Ukraine; everyone in America is interested in exchange, but at the same time they support terror and chaos.”

Recalling the fact that Iran has received a message from America in recent days, he said, “In our opinion, the diplomatic path continues, but some American officials are speaking in a way that is contradictory.”

Also, an Iranian lawmaker has reacted to the European sanctions on Iran. The lawmaker, Abolfazl Amouei, who is the spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Iran’s state news agency IRNA that if Europe thinks it can extract concessions from Iran through imposing sanctions, it has no accurate knowledge of Iran.

Regarding whether Europe can gain concessions from Iran through these sanctions in possible future negotiations, Amouei noted, “If Europe thinks it will succeed in winning concessions from the Islamic Republic with such a performance, it is clear that it does not have a precise understanding of Iran.”