What changed between the resolution motion and the resolution motion joint

Removed:B90235/2024

Added:European Parliament resolution on Iran’s unprecedented attack against Israel, the need for de-escalation and an EU response

Removed:European Parliament resolution on Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, the need for de-escalation and the EU response

(2024/2704(RSP))

The European Parliament,

Removed:– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

Added:– having regard to the UN Secretary-General’s statement of 13 April 2024 regarding attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran targeting Israel,

Removed:– having regard to its previous resolutions and recommendations on the Middle East conflict, in particular its resolutions of 19 October 2023 on the despicable terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel, Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law and the humanitarian situation in Gaza and of 18 January 2024 on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to reach a ceasefire and the risks of regional escalation,

Added:– having regard to the G7 Leaders’ statement of 14 April 2024 on Iran’s attack against Israel,

Removed:– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

Added:– having regard to the statement by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the EU of 14 April 2024 on Iran,

Added:– having regard to the statement of 3 April 2024 by the Spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on the attack in Damascus,

Added:– having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/1532 of 20 July 2023 concerning restrictive measures in view of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,

Added:– having regard to the EU terrorist list and Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP laying down the criteria for listing persons, groups and entities,

Added:– having regard to the European Council conclusions of 17 April 2024,

– having regard to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly,

– having regard to international humanitarian law, in particular the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols,

– having regard to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,

Change 1

Removed:– having regard to the press statement of 16 April 2024 by the experts from the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council,

Added:– having regard to the EU statement to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of 12 September 2023 on verification and monitoring in Iran in light of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015),

Removed:– having regard to all EU sanctions and restrictive measures adopted against Iran,

Added:– having regard to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1970,

Removed:– having regard to the EU terrorist list and Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP laying down the criteria for listing persons, groups and entities,

Added:– having regard to Rules 132(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,

Removed:– having regard to Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment,

Added:A. whereas on 13 April 2024, Iran attacked Israeli territory for the first time, firing over 300 drones and missiles; whereas most were intercepted by Israel, the US, the UK and France, who also provided aerial reconnaissance and defence from Jordanian soil; whereas five missiles still impacted Israeli territory, hitting the Nevatim Israeli Air Force Base and seriously injuring a seven-year-old girl from Israel’s Arab Bedouin community; whereas all 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles were intercepted before entering Israeli territory, while 105 out of 110 ballistic missiles were intercepted by Israel’s missile defence systems; whereas preceding and during the attack, Hezbollah also launched rockets towards the Golan Heights and the Houthis attacked Israeli territory;

Removed:– having regard to the European Council conclusions of 17 April 2024,

Added:B. whereas on 1 April 2024, Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria was bombed in an air strike widely attributed to Israel that killed seven officers, including two senior Iranian generals from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and injured 13 others; whereas Iran’s consulate in Damascus has been reportedly used to stage 150 attacks on American and Israeli targets in the region; whereas following the bombing, Iran called for ‘punishment and revenge’; whereas the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and on Consular Relations grant protection to diplomatic premises; whereas all UN Security Council members expressed concerns and called for de-escalation; whereas US officials confirmed that, during the night of 19 April 2024, Israel carried out some retaliatory military operations with drone attacks in the central province of Isfahan;

Removed:– having regard to the Council conclusions of 12 December 2022 on Iran,

Added:C. whereas the EU, the UK, the US and others have unanimously condemned the attacks and called on both sides to de-escalate;

Removed:– having regard to the joint statement of 16 April 2016 by then Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif,

Added:D. whereas Hamas’s despicable terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, during which its operatives brutally killed mostly civilians, abducted 253 people as hostages and took them to the Gaza Strip, with 112 of them having since been released, has had profound and detrimental effects on the stability of the entire Middle East; whereas Israel’s subsequent war against the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip has entailed a disproportionate military response that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, including many humanitarian workers and journalists, and caused a catastrophic humanitarian situation, including unprecedented levels of famine, due to the population’s lack of safe, unhindered access to humanitarian aid; whereas the events since 7 October have had profound and detrimental effects on the stability of the entire Middle East;

Removed:– having regard to the press statements of 14 April 2024 by the High Representative on behalf of the EU and by Commission President Von der Leyen,

Added:E. whereas in the occupied Palestinian territories, Iran has been supporting the terrorist organisation Hamas financially and logistically;

Removed:– having regard to the joint declaration of the G7 leaders following Iran’s attack against Israel, adopted on 14 April 2024,

Added:F. whereas hundreds of rockets and air strikes launched by Hezbollah and its allies and Israel have hit southern Lebanon and northern Israel since 7 October 2023, displacing 60 000 Israelis and 30 000 Lebanese; whereas Israel’s air strikes in Lebanon have targeted Hezbollah and Hamas members;

Removed:– having regard to all press releases and statements on Iran and the region by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), Josep Borrell,

Added:G. whereas Iran has brought militias from Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan to Syria to quell dissent and control the Syrian regime’s territory; whereas since 7 October 2023, Iran-backed militias in Syria have stepped up the firing of drones and rockets at Israel;

Removed:– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

Added:H. whereas Iran’s ally in Syria, the Assad regime, besieged, shelled and starved Yarmouk Camp, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, between 2011 and 2015, killing hundreds of civilians and displacing over 200 000 Palestinian refugees;

Removed:A. whereas on 13 April 2024, Iran fired over 300 missiles and drones at Israel; whereas about half of the Iranian ballistic missiles fired at Israel reportedly failed to launch or crashed before reaching their targets; whereas approximately 95 % of the drones and rockets launched by Iran at Israel, including 120 ballistic missiles and over 30 cruise missiles, were intercepted by Israel and partners’ air defence systems;

Added:I. whereas in Iraq, Iranian-backed militias have exerted nefarious political and military influence, acting outside the control of national defence authorities; whereas they have specifically targeted US military bases, as well as the Iraqi Kurdistan region; whereas a pro-Iranian militia in Iraq claimed responsibility for the strikes on 1 April 2024 against an Israeli naval base in Eilat;

Removed:B. whereas these attacks severely injured a seven-year-old Israeli child from the Arab Bedouin community and damaged the Nevatim airbase located in the Negev desert; whereas the family of this child was refused a housing permit by the Israeli authorities;

Added:J. whereas in Yemen, Iran provides substantial support and is closely linked to the Houthi movement; whereas the Houthis’ attacks have targeted international commercial shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait since October 2023, heavily disrupting maritime traffic in the Red Sea and threatening global economic stability; whereas they have been holding Japan’s Galaxy Leader vessel and its crew, including three EU nationals, hostage since 19 November 2023; whereas the US and its European allies have intercepted Houthi drone attacks; whereas EU Naval Force Operation ASPIDES was created in February 2024 to protect international maritime passage; whereas the UN-led peace process in Yemen has been stalled since October 2023; whereas previous Iranian attacks, such as the seizure of the MSC Aries, a Portuguese-flagged container ship with an Estonian crew on board, in the Strait of Hormuz, pose a danger to international maritime security;

Removed:C. whereas the missiles and drones launched by Iran originated from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen; whereas Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided intelligence on the planned strikes; whereas Jordan cooperated in intercepting the missiles and drones alongside the air defence systems of Israel and ‘western allies’, including the US, France and the UK;

Added:K. whereas Iran’s nuclear programme has consistently breached the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by exceeding the limit on its uranium stockpile, elevating enrichment activities to 60 %, resuming JCPOA-restricted operations at nuclear facilities and effectively obstructing IAEA oversight; whereas on 13 September 2023, France, Germany, the UK and the US expressed grave concerns about these developments to the IAEA Board of Governors; whereas Iran warned Israel that it could review its nuclear doctrine following speculation that Israel would target Iran’s nuclear facilities;

Removed:D. whereas Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had warned that the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus would not go unanswered and of the significant response to deter Israel from repeating or escalating such attacks;

Added:L. whereas Iran has provided significant military assistance, including by constructing a drone factory in Russia and delivering several thousand drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), (artillery) ammunition and surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, to support Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine; whereas these weapons have been used indiscriminately against Ukraine’s population and civilian infrastructure; whereas on 20 July 2023, the European Council established a new framework for restrictive measures targeting Iranian military assistance to Russia;

Removed:E. whereas the Iranian attacks were a retaliatory measure against the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on 1 April 2024, in which seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed, including two senior commanders; whereas ⁠since 7 October 2023, Israel has attacked Iranian officials and assets in five airstrikes, in addition to multiple previous attacks; whereas Israel’s latest strike marked an unprecedented escalation against Iran in response to the country’s alleged involvement in the 7 October terrorist attack, as well as a shift in Israel’s strategy towards directly eliminating IRGC leadership;

Added:M. whereas human rights defenders, peaceful protesters, journalists, artists, the LGBTIQ community, unionists and sports champions have suffered under Iran’s brutal domestic and transnational repression; whereas thousands of political prisoners are currently being held in horrendous detention conditions, many on death row; whereas Iran is one of the world’s top offenders with regard to capital punishment, as it executed at least 853 people in 2023, according to Amnesty International; whereas ethnic, religious and sexual minorities in Iran continue to face violent repression;

Removed:F. whereas Israel weighed its response to the Iranian attacks of 13 April 2024; whereas Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had indicated that Israel would decide on its own when and how to respond to Iran’s attacks; whereas, according to polls, a large majority of the Israeli population had expressed opposition to further retaliation;

Added:N. whereas the issue of gender apartheid in Iran has been raised by UN special rapporteurs; whereas since September 2022 and the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, historical protests for women’s rights have taken place in Iran; whereas the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was awarded to Jina Mahsa Amini and Iran’s ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement; whereas the Iranian regime has responded with an even harsher legal environment, further restricting women’s clothing and expanding gender segregation;

Removed:G. whereas US officials confirmed that, during the night of 19 April 2024, Israel carried out some retaliatory military operations with drone attacks in the central province of Isfahan; whereas explosions were heard near the Shekari army airbase in the north-west of the Isfahan province; whereas the US administration had been informed that the attacks were coming in the next 24 to 48 hours; whereas Israel assured that Iran’s nuclear facilities would not be targeted; whereas according to media reports, Iran has no immediate plans for retaliation against Israel;

Added:O. whereas the US designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organisation in April 2019; whereas the European Parliament has been requesting that the IRGC be added to the EU terrorist list since early 2023; whereas the IRGC have been implicated in the planning and/or execution of dozens of operations, assassinations and terrorist attacks on EU soil over the past 30 years, including the ‘Mykonos Plot’ in Berlin in 1992, the bus bombing and killing of five Israeli citizens and one Bulgarian national in Bulgaria in 2012, the murder of Iranian dissidents in the Netherlands in 2015 and 2017, a planned bomb attack on Iranian dissidents in Paris in 2018, a planned assassination of three Iranian dissidents in Denmark in 2018 and an attempted arson attack against a synagogue in Bochum, Germany in 2022; whereas some EU foreign affairs ministers made a request for sanctions against the IRGC during the Foreign Affairs Council meeting of 16 April 2024;

Removed:H. whereas Tehran has been establishing and supporting terrorist proxies in the region for decades as part of an overall strategy to threaten Israel and its right to existence and to destabilise the region;

Added:P. whereas an estimated two dozen innocent EU nationals have been arbitrarily detained as part of Iran’s hostage diplomacy to extort political wins; whereas Iran has abducted dissidents outside of its own territory in order to detain or execute them in Iran;

Removed:I. whereas on 7 October 2023, Hamas terrorists committed an attack on Israel, murdering 1 139 Israeli and foreign citizens; whereas Hamas took over 240 people hostage, of which 136 are still being held captive in the Gaza Strip; whereas Iran allegedly financed and supported Hamas in preparation for the 7 October attack against Israel;

Added:Q. whereas, in response to the sanctions imposed on Iran by the EU, Iran has taken retaliatory measures against Members of the European Parliament (MEPs); whereas in response, in November 2022, Parliament decided that its delegations and committees will no longer engage with Iranian authorities;

Removed:J. whereas the rising tensions between Iran and Israel come against the backdrop of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which began after Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and has led to a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip, repeated attacks against civilians and humanitarian facilities and a catastrophic humanitarian situation, including the risk of imminent starvation of the population;

Added:R. whereas on 17 April 2024, the Council decided to expand its sanctions regime against Iran to include Iran’s missile and drone production; whereas the US administration has imposed new sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programmes;