The European Union on Monday added 29 individuals and three organisations to its list of people and entities subject to economic sanctions in Iran, in response to Tehran’s widespread use of force against peaceful demonstrators.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, ‘We stand with the Iranian people and support their right to protest peacefully and voice their demands and views freely.’
The Islamic Republic has been challenged in one of its boldest ways ever by the protests over the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. As of now, 341 protesters have been killed and over 15,800 detained, according to the HRANA news agency.
The EU statement said the sanctions listed four members of the squad that apprehended Amini, high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Guards, and Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who has been sanctioned.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the sanctions are intended to ” send a clear message to those who think they can suppress, intimidate and kill their own people without consequences,” as she arrived for a meeting with her EU counterparts in Brussels.
“It is impossible for them,” she said. “The global community, Europe included, is paying close attention.”
Image Credit: ALEXANDRE LALLEMAND/UNSPLASH
