BRUSSELS -- The European Union has named two Iranian officials who, along with Iran’s intelligence services, have been targeted by fresh sanctions for their suspected involvement in assassination plots in France, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
The listings in the EU’s terrorism sanctions list were agreed to on January 8 and published on January 9 in the EU’s Official Journal.
The two individuals were identified in the Official Journal as Assadollah Asadi and Saeed Hashemi Moghadam.
Both men are already subject to French asset freezes in response to an alleged Iranian plot to bomb a meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition movement near Paris in 2018.
Asadi, an Iranian diplomat accredited to Tehran's embassy in Vienna, was arrested in Germany in 2018 in connection with the foiled plot in France and has since been extradited to Belgium.
Hashemi Moghadam is a deputy chief in Iran's Ministry for Intelligence and Security.
The ministry's Directorate for Internal Security was also placed on the EU sanctions list, freezing any assets its holds within the European Union.
Tehran has denied the allegations of Iranian assassination plots, saying the accusations are aimed at damaging relations between Iran and the EU.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on January 9 that it would reciprocate in response to the fresh EU sanctions.
In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said: "Iran will adopt the necessary measures in response to this move and within the framework of reciprocation."