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Akbar Novruz

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Georgia has officially declined to implement the European Union’s latest sanctions package against Iran, with a ruling Georgian Dream lawmaker saying Tbilisi will support international measures only when they serve the country’s interests.

According to Interpressnews, Georgian MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili said on August 17 that Georgia’s position on international resolutions and measures is determined solely by their impact on the country.

“If it goes against Georgia’s interests, we do not care whose interests it serves,” Sharmanashvili said.

“The question of whether Georgia joins a resolution or takes steps in international affairs is determined by one criterion alone: whether it serves the country’s interests at that particular moment,” he added.

Sharmanashvili also pointed to Türkiye and Serbia, both EU candidate countries, noting that they had likewise declined to join the latest sanctions measures against Iran.

The EU sanctions package, announced by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, consists of three separate decisions.

The first modifies the existing EU sanctions regime by removing and adding individuals and revising the listing of one organization.

The second extends restrictive measures related to Iranian military support for armed groups operating in Russia, West Asia and the Red Sea region, while removing four individuals from the sanctions list.

The third decision adds six Iranian individuals to the EU sanctions list over alleged human rights violations.