The European Parliament on Thursday voted in favor of an unprecedented condemnation of Iran following its massive attack on Israel earlier in the month. The vote which passed with an overwhelming majority of 357 to 20, reiterates the EU's "full support for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens and condemns the simultaneous rocket launches carried out by Iran’s proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen against the Golan Heights and Israeli territory before and during the Iranian attack."
The EU also decided to expand the sanctions placed on the Iranian regime and on its missile and drone projects and demands that these sanctions be" urgently put in place and call for more individuals and entities to be targeted."
In a statement, the EU said the votes reiterate the parliament’s "long-standing call to include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the EU list of terrorist organizations, stressing that such a decision is long overdue due to malign Iranian activities. It similarly calls on the Council and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to add Hezbollah in its entirety to the same list."
The parliament called out Iran's "persistently failing to comply with its legal safeguard obligations under its nuclear deal and urged the Iranian authorities to "immediately abide by these requirements and address all related outstanding issues." It also recognized Iran's role in destabilizing regional security, including by supporting Hamas and called for an immediate implementation of UN resolution 1701 on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz hailed the EU decision. "The world now understands Iran must be stopped before it is too late," he said. "The free world sees that Iran is a danger to world order and to peace and is the largest exporter of terror in the world."