Iran vows retaliation after EU, Britain slap sanctions

TEHRAN - Iran on Tuesday strongly condemned new sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) and Britain and vowed to take retaliatory measures.

Iran reserves the right to take retaliatory measures against such "failed policies" and will soon announce its new list of sanctions against the "human rights violators and sponsors of terrorism" in the EU and Britain, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement, which was posted on the ministry's website.

The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on more than 30 Iranian officials and organizations, including units of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, for their response to the recent protests in the country. Britain and the United States also slapped new sanctions on Iran on the same day.

The move by the EU and Britain indicates that they failed to have a correct understanding of Iran's realities, Kanaani said, adding the sanctions by EU and Britain on Iranian parliament members as well as judicial, military, police and cultural officials are signs of their "desperation, frustration and anger" over their recent "abject failure" to sow unrest in the country despite their efforts and heavy costs.

"The sanctions will not affect the Iranian nation's determination and will to confront foreign interference and conspiracies," he noted.

Protests erupted in Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital on Sept 16, 2022, a few days after her collapse at a police station. Iran has accused the United States and some other Western countries of "inciting riots and supporting terrorists" in the country.