Araqchi Raps EU’s Plan to Sanction Iran’s Shipping Lines on Bogus Claims
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian foreign minister denounced the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions on Iran’s shipping lines on the pretext that Iran has supplied Russia with missiles, a claim that even the Ukrainian president himself has rejected.
“(Ukrainian) President Zelensky himself has confirmed that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been delivered to Russia,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on his X account on Sunday night.
“Yet, the EU refuses to reverse its indiscriminate targeting of air travelers by going after Iranian airlines -a measure ostensibly motivated by our non-existent missile deliveries to Russia,” he added.
“Now, the EU is using the same non-existent missile pretext to also target our shipping lines. There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such behavior. If anything, it will only compel what it ostensibly seeks to prevent,” Araqchi added.
“Freedom of navigation is a basic principle of the law of the sea. When selectively applied by some, such shortsightedness usually tends to boomerang,” the foreign minister warned.