Iran slaps "retaliatory" sanctions on EU, British individuals, entities

TEHRAN, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry imposed Tuesday new sanctions on several individuals and entities of the European Union and Britain for "supporting terrorism and inciting violence."

The "retaliatory" move targets those supporting terrorism and terrorist groups, encouraging terrorist acts and violence against Iranians, interfering in Iran's domestic affairs, spreading false information about Iran and escalating "economic terrorism" against the country, the ministry said in a statement.

The sanctions, covering 13 entities and 15 individuals from the EU and eight British individuals, include blocking accounts and transactions under the Iranian financial and banking systems, freezing their assets inside Iran, and prohibiting their visa issuance and entry into Iran's territory, it said.

On Monday, the EU imposed further restrictive measures against 32 Iranian individuals and two entities over Tehran's response to the recent protests in the country, taking the total number of Iranian individuals and entities on the sanctions list to 196 and 33, respectively. Britain and the United States also slapped new sanctions on Iran.

Iran had imposed "tit-for-tat" sanctions before its latest move on Tuesday.

In September 2022, 22-year-old Iranian girl Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iran's morality police, who said she failed to properly wear the Islamic headscarf known as the hijab. Amini's death triggered nationwide protests in Iran.