Headquarters of the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg, France. Photo: AFP/VNA

The targeted entities include the Friends of Free Iran and the International Committee in Search of Justice, two informal groups in the European Parliament. The Persian-language services of Germany’s Deutsche Welle and France’s RFI were also targeted. Two directors of the German newspaper Bild and a number of European Parliament members were also blacklisted.

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the move is a tit for tat to the EU's October 17 imposition of sanctions on 11 Iranian individuals and 4 entities, who will be subject to a visa ban and asset freeze by the EU.

The US, UK and Canada previously imposed sanctions on individuals and entities in Iran.