Addressing MEPs in the French city of Strasbourg, in a debate on "Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel, the need to de-escalate and the EU response", Josep Borrell recalled that on Monday, the foreign ministers of the 27, meeting in Luxembourg, reached a political agreement on extending current sanctions on Tehran, but stressed that this cannot be the only way forward. "From time to time people ask for something that we already have - we have a sanctions regime against Iran for the provision of drones to Russia. Well, this regime can be used now also to sanction the provision of such weapons and others in the Middle East and the Red Sea region," pointed out the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. While acknowledging that "sanctions are an important tool" and the EU has used them "to send a clear message to Iran on dangerous proliferation activities aimed at destabilising the region", Josep Borrell warned that "sanctions alone are not a policy, sanctions are tools of a policy". "Sanctions alone will not deter Iran, this should be evident after years and years of international sanctions. Iran is, together with North Korea, the most sanctioned country in the world. Sanctions alone cannot solve the risk of escalation," he argued, defending that diplomacy should be privileged. "Diplomatic action must be equally important. I believe this is a moment for diplomacy, a moment to invest maximum diplomatic efforts, to act in order to try to de-escalate and to ask everybody to play their part," he advocated. The head of European diplomacy stressed that "the EU and its member states are in contact with key players, because the EU keeps open channels with all the parties involved", noting that he himself is "in regular contact with the Iranian Foreign Minister, to express how deplorable these attacks are and to warn against the risk of a wider regional conflict", as well as having contacts with Israel asking them "to show restraint", and also with the Arab countries of the Gulf, "to use their influence". In closing, Borrell welcomed the fact that the attacks seem to have slowed down, but warned that "the situation remains volatile and dangerous". On Monday, at the end of an EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, Borrell announced that the European Union had agreed to extend existing sanctions against Iran over drones to cover missiles and their possible transfer to Tehran's allied groups in the Middle East or to Russia. The joint meeting of foreign and defence ministers took place just over a week after Iran launched its first direct attack with drones and missiles on Israeli territory. This attack followed an airstrike on 1 April, attributed to Israel, which destroyed a Tehran consular annex in Damascus and killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic's ideological army, including two generals. The Israeli military said that the vast majority of the more than 300 missiles and drones fired by Iran on 13 and 14 April were shot down - with the help of the United States and other allies - and that the attack caused only minimal damage. Read Also: Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would have "catastrophic consequences" (Portuguese version)