France urged the European Union on Monday to consider new sanctions on Iran over its involvement in Syria’s civil war and its ballistic missile program, as Paris tries to persuade Washington to preserve a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

The European Union ministers moved on Tuesday (March 13, 2018) Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint Lucia from the blacklist of tax havens and added Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis to the list.

European Union finance ministers agreed new measures on Tuesday to force accountants and banks to report aggressive tax schemes that help companies shift profits to low-tax countries.

Reuters said that European Union states are set to remove Bahrain, the Marshall Islands and Saint Lucia from a list of tax havens next week, leaving only six jurisdictions on it, an EU document shows.

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Affairs, Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said that the European Union’s issuance of statements that do not reflect the reality of the situation.

European Union called for release of Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, commenting on new Bahraini court ruling sentencing him to additional five five years in prison.

Saudi Arabia has no interest in participating in a European Union-style regional security alliance as proposed by Qatar, its Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday.

In a first comment made by an official party on the 2-year jail term verdict issued by cassation court against Nabeel Rajab over television interviews, the European Union called on the Bahraini government to release prominent human rights defender Rajab for humanitarian grounds.

The EU will remove Panama, South Korea and six other countries from its recently unveiled tax haven blacklist in a quick reversal that drew criticism from activists.

The European Union has published its first blacklist of tax havens, naming 17 territories including three Arab countries: Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Tunisia.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain expect to be removed from the European Union's tax-haven blacklist after taking steps to block tax avoidance by companies, the governments of the two countries said on Thursday.

The United Arab Emirates will have to do more to address the European Union's concerns about tax transparency if it is to be removed from a tax-haven blacklist, the EU's ambassador to the UAE said on Wednesday.

The European Union said that "The decision by the High Appeal Court of Bahrain of 26 October to uphold the Appeal Court ruling to dissolve the National Democratic Action Society (Waad) contravenes provisions on the freedoms of speech and association as enshrined in the Constitution of Bahrain and therefore risks further polarizing Bahrain's society."

40 Members of the European Parliament from different political groups sent an open letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, urging her to call for immediate release of Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei’s family.

European Union leaders on Thursday reaffirmed their full commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, hoping that the U.S. Congress would not let it collapse despite relentless criticism by President Donald Trump.

Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Thursday its ballistic missile program would accelerate despite U.S. and European Union pressure to suspend it, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The European Union on Monday reaffirmed its support for a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers despite sharp criticism of the accord by President Donald Trump, and it urged U.S. lawmakers not to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Wednesday that all parties to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers were complying with the agreement.

A group of international NGOs sent an open letter to the European Union (EU) member states and its institutions, urging them to stop the export of surveillance equipment to authoritarian countries.

European Union called for release of prominent Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, stressing that the two-year prison sentence issued against him runs against Bahrain’s international commitments.