The European Union said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on two Iranian individuals and a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for threatening the freedom of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world's oil flows.
The move marked the first time the bloc has used new powers to sanction Iran for restricting freedom of navigation.
The EU said in a written statement that it had added the Hormozgan Provincial Command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy to its sanctions list, as well as Mohammad Akbarzadeh and Hamid Hosseini.
It said Akbarzadeh is Deputy Commander for Political Affairs of the IRGC Navy and Hosseini is a representative of Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union.
Commenting on the decision, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran does not attach any value to the EU's "political and hypocritical" move. He said that Iran would continue its strategy to maintain sovereignty over the strategic strait.
Iran moved to close the Strait of Hormuz after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28.
"Iran's actions are unacceptable. In response, member states have approved sanctions against Iranian entities and individuals involved in disrupting transit through the Strait of Hormuz," Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said earlier at a news conference in Cyprus.
"This is the first time the EU has applied its new freedom of navigation regime and when necessary we will apply it again," added Kallas.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas, Bart Meijer, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Julia Payne and Menna Alaa El-Din and Elwely Elwelly; Editing by Andrew Gray)