The foreign ministers of the European Union will discuss on Monday the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia and their use in Ukraine. They might also agree on future sanctions tied to the matter, according to Reuters. The delay in the response of the Europeans and, before them the Americans, in dealing with the issue, despite the Ukrainians constantly talking about how the Russians have been using Shahed 136 Iranian drones- not just a while ago, but even as recently as two even days ago.
Two days ago, a website associated with the Ukrainians claimed that Iranian trainers were in Kherson and Crimea to launch Kamakazi Shadeh 136 drones.
We say that it is strange because the European Union and the United States had been keener on negotiating the Iranian nuclear deal than questioning the Iranian expansion or Iran’s crimes, not just in the region but in Europe as well.
The US administration, for example, has preoccupied everyone with the OPEC production cuts, ignoring the Ukrainian reports documenting the use of Iranian drones to target Ukrainian territory. These are the same drones that Iran uses for its terrorist operations in our region.
They are also the same drones used by the terrorist militias loyal to Iran, be it the Houthis, Hezbollah, the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Aasaeb Ahel Al Haq, on Saudi territory, as well as against the Emirates, Iraq, and others.
Thus, we are facing a glaring contradiction, or rather hypocrisy, in the behavior of the US. On the one hand, the United States and Europe have ignored all the calls from the region to stand firm against Iranian drones, especially when the US and the West rushed to negotiate with Iran.
After ignoring Ukrainian demands for intervention concerning the Iranian drones, the foreign ministers of the EU have decided to intervene and look into Iran’s terrorist behavior, with hints at sanctions being made.
The important thing, rather the most important, is that sanctions not be restricted to the Ukrainian crisis. Instead, they should be more expansive; they should be imposed on the regime as a whole- real, meaningful sanctions, not cosmetic sanctions- when Iran uses its drones in our region.
The Europeans have already listened to our point of view in this regard; it has been expressed candidly and with absolute clarity, most recently last September. They were frankly told: Only now are you concerned by the Iran drones given to Russia, after years we spent convincing you that they pose a danger to us… Is Europe more important than the rest of the world?
Better late than never, as they say, and it is thus important that sanctions on the Iranian drones being used in Ukraine come with similar sanctions imposed to punish the use of these drones in our region, whether by Iran or its groups.
These sanctions should be part of a Western-American package, and they should not take lifting any of the sanctions imposed on Iran lightly, as such sanctions relief would supply the regime with additional revenue. They should avoid a repetition of the Obama administration’s mistake, which allowed Tehran to use billions of dollars to fund its destructive groups and help them evolve.
Dealing with Iran cannot take separate paths. Indeed, a clear path must be laid, one that addresses all of Iran’s destructive tools, from missiles to drones to its support for militias- not just negotiations around its nuclear program, which have failed and continue to fail. Will the Europeans do it?
