EU To Impose 'Very Tough' Sanctions On Tehran, Borrell Says

The European Union will agree on a "very tough" package of sanctions against Iran, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Monday ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts.

"We are going to approve a very tough package of sanctions", Josep Borrell said. "(The EU) will take any action we can to support young women and peaceful demonstrators."

EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday will try to agree on new sanctions on Iran over human rights violations and supply of drones to Russia.

A package of new sanctions is on the agenda for Iranian individuals and organizations over human rights abuses in Tehran’s deadly crackdown on protesters and its supply of drones to Russia.

The Islamic Republic Monday publicly hanged a second protesterarrested last month, which might force the EU to be tougher in its decisions.

New sanctions against Russia are also on the agenda, however, it remained unclear whether Hungary will block some decisions, resorting to what diplomats denounced as “blackmail diplomacy” due to a dispute over locked EY funds for Budapest.

"There is agreement, in principle, but there's also the big elephant in the room," a senior EU diplomat told reporters, referring to Budapest's use of its veto power. "It's a type of blackmail diplomacy that we would rather not see but it is what it is."