News - Middle East: Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Ali Akbar Safaei has decried a fresh round of sanctions imposed by the European Union and Britain on the Islamic Republic’s shipping lines on baseless allegations.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said on Monday that it had imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani, and several other entities and individuals.

It added that vessels, ports, and docks owned, operated, or controlled by those individuals and entities will be targeted by the sanctions, thereby prohibiting any transaction with them.

The EU claimed the individuals and entities have been involved in transporting Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and related technologies and components to Russia to use in the war in Ukraine.

Acting in parallel, Britain also announced fresh sanctions against Iran Monday, freezing the assets of IRISL as well as national airline Iran Air over the same allegation.

Safaei, who also serves as CEO of Ports and Maritime Organization, told IRNA on Monday that IRISL is a “completely commercial and trading” body that transports goods not only from Iran but also from other countries.

It is among the largest shipping companies in West Asia which conducts extensive commercial activities, he said.

He added that IRISL’s works in the Caspian Sea entirely focus on the import of basic commodities to the country. “Therefore, the European Union’s allegations are completely illusionary.”

The Iranian official criticized the 27-nation bloc for following the suit of the US in imposing sanctions against Tehran on groundless claims.

Safaei noted that sanctions will have adverse consequences on the Iranian people’s living.

He emphasized that despite the West’s cruel sanctions, Iran has managed to continue its foreign trade with countries across the world through maritime transport.

Ahead of the new sanctions' announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X on Sunday that the EU was using the "non-existent missile pretext" to target its shipping lines.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said sanctions against the Iranian people and national interests will not go unanswered.

“Under the circumstances that Ukrainian officials themselves admit that the claims regarding the transfer of missiles from Iran to Russia are not true, European countries were expected to reconsider their previous claims. But it seems that some European countries are insisting on their own approach,” Baghaei said at his weekly presser.

Russia launched what it called a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 partly to prevent NATO’s eastward expansion. Moscow had already warned that the US-led military alliance was following an “aggressive line.”

Iran has maintained its policy of impartiality toward the conflict.

However, the US and its Western allies have claimed that Iran is supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for direct use in the Ukraine war.

Tehran categorically rejects the unfounded accusation, saying it is the Western countries that are escalating the war through the supply of advanced weaponry to Kiev. Russia has also warned that the flow of Western arms to Ukraine is prolonging the conflict.

Press TV