The sanctions against Iran's missile and drone programs come amid growing concerns about the potential for further escalation in the region.
US President Joe Biden's administration has imposed new sanctions on Iran in response to missile and drone attacks on Israel, amid rising tensions over the potential for further escalation in the Middle East.
Biden said in a statement Thursday that the sanctions target “leaders and entities associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian Ministry of Defense, and the Iranian government's missile and drone programs” that made the April 13 attack on Israel possible. He said it was targeted.
“After discussing it with my G7 colleagues, [Group of Seven] “Leaders are committed to acting collectively to increase economic pressure on Iran,” the U.S. president said the morning after the attack.
“And our allies and partners have implemented or plan to issue additional sanctions and measures to limit Iran's destabilizing military plans.”
Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel early Sunday in retaliation for the bombing of the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus earlier this month.
The attack comes amid months of heightened tensions in the region over months of Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. The war in Gaza has killed more than 33,900 Palestinians and plunged the coastal enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
Facing pressure to curb support for Israel amid the Gaza conflict, the Biden administration is now facing calls to rein in the Israeli government's response to the Iranian attack.
Despite international pressure to ease tensions, Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have vowed to respond.
“Given the fact that we are looking into the abyss when it comes to this region, now is the time for Biden to be clearer in drawing lines that Israel and Netanyahu must not cross to avoid plunging the entire region into war. , it's time to get stronger,'' Trita Parsi of the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft told Al Jazeera after the Iranian attack.
Thursday's sanctions targeted 16 people and two entities associated with Iranian production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, including models used in Iran's attacks on Israel, the U.S. Treasury said.
The U.S. government also sanctioned five companies that provide materials for steel production in Iran and three subsidiaries of Iranian automakers for allegedly offering support to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The Treasury added that the UK has also imposed sanctions on people and entities involved in Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle and ballistic missile industries.
In a separate statement, the British government announced sanctions against officials from Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, Revolutionary Guards Navy and Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Today we have sanctioned Iranian military leaders and the forces responsible for the weekend's attacks.”
“These sanctions announced alongside the United States demonstrate that we unequivocally condemn this behavior and will further limit Iran's ability to destabilize the region.”
Meanwhile, also on Thursday, Revolutionary Guards officials warned that Iran would attack Israel's nuclear facilities and pursue nuclear weapons if the Israeli government launched an attack against its own nuclear facilities.
Iran's semi-official news website Tasnim reported that Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Ahmad Khatalab said: “We will destroy the designated targets depending on the possibility of an attack by the designated targets. “We are holding the trigger for a powerful missile launch for this purpose.”