Will Western Countries Respond to Iran’s attack on Israel? [Part One]

The G7 members are now in Italy, discussing potential ways to respond to Iran’s attack to Israel. But are their options viable?

Israeli media reported this Thursday that Western member countries of the G7 group plan to react to Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel. In their meeting that began on Wednesday, April 18, the foreign ministers of the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan will hold meetings for the next three days to address different issues, including how to respond to Iran’s Sunday attack on Israel.

In this regard, some sources have stated that new sanctions “will be imposed on Iran, targeting the assembly line of Iran’s drones as well as the suppression of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ networks in Europe.”

Separate statements from the leaders of the seven countries show that most of them have told Israel to refrain from retaliating against Iran to avoid escalations in the region. They have told Israel that because almost all Iranian missiles and drones were destroyed with the help of the Western-Arab coalition, Israel doesn’t need to retaliate the attack.

How much Israel will listen to the G7 member states is not yet clear, and it remains to be seen what decision the authorities in Tel Aviv will make in the end.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that it is Israel that will ultimately decide whether to respond to Iran’s attack or not. the tone of Netanyahu’s words was like he may finally be satisfied to stop taking countermeasures against Iran, at least a severe and extensive one, and move in the direction that the Western countries have chosen to respond to Iran. But what are their options as a response to Iran?

Option One: Intensifying sanctions against Iran!

Several reports indicate that new sanctions against Iran are being considered in Italy. In this regard, the head of the G7 group said that the new sanctions could target those who “clearly participated in the attack against Israel”.

French President Emmanuel Macron also called for a focus on intensifying sanctions against Iran and also suggested that in order to further isolate Iran, the narrative that “Iran is a danger to the entire region” should be spread among the countries of the region.

Likewise, the G7 countries are looking for new ways to block the ways through which some parts of Iranian drones are sent from some Western countries to Iran. Arms analysts believe that some parts of Iranian drones, which are also used by Russia in the Ukraine war, are produced by some US companies and reach Iran.

France and Germany have suggested that the European Union’s anti-drone sanctions against Russia be applied to Iran’s drones and missile arsenal.

Josep Borrell, the senior diplomat of the European Union, said in a meeting with the foreign ministers of the European Union this Wednesday that this extensive sanctions regime can also be applied to Iran and the sending of missile and drone equipment from Iran to proxy forces.

On Tuesday, and in a meeting with her Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, German Foreign Minister Analena Baerbock said that “there is almost no country that has been sanctioned as much as Iran in the field of military weapons, but it seems that stronger sanctions are needed.”

The US representative at the G7 meeting said the experience of nuclear and military sanctions against Iran shows that “sanctions are unlikely to have a significant impact on Iran’s drone program, but at least they can cause Tehran to produce less effective weapons”.

Some Republicans have also called on US President Joe Biden to revoke sanctions waivers that allow food, water and medicine to be imported into Iran, claiming that Tehran is using the money to build military equipment.

This Thursday, Reuters reported that along with the US, the United Kingdom imposed new sanctions on Iranian military figures and organizations.

“These sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, target Iran’s Defense Minister and other military figures and organizations, including the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy,” the report noted.