EU foreign ministers discuss sanctions against Iran. Among other things, the notorious vice squad is targeted. If the EU can prove that Iran supports Russia, it will take additional measures.
Annalena Baerbock will hold discussions with the Finn Pekka Haavisto at the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
(dpa/Reuters) According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the EU will impose sanctions on the Iranian moral police. The aim is to hold those responsible for brutal crimes against women, young people and men accountable, said the Green politician on Monday at the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The EU is expected to impose travel bans and freeze the assets of about 15 Iranians implicated in the government’s crackdown on protesters on Monday, Reuters reports.
Against the compulsory headscarf
The background to the EU’s action is the recent suppression of protests in Iran. Security forces had recently taken brutal action against people who were demonstrating nationwide against the government’s repressive course, the headscarf requirement and the system of government.
The protests were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The young woman died on September 16 under unclear circumstances after being arrested by the vice squad because of her alleged “un-Islamic outfit”. Critics accuse the morality police of using violence. The police firmly deny the allegations.
Baerbock said on Monday that in Iran women who go out of the house without a headscarf or want to sing and dance together in the evening are beaten and sometimes killed for it. It’s about crimes against young people, children and women, “who want nothing more than to live in peace and freedom”.
Respond vigorously to drones
Some European Union foreign ministers on Monday called for new sanctions against Iran if Tehran’s involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine is proven. Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks using Iranian Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks, including again on Monday. Iran denies supplying the so-called kamikaze drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.
“We will look for concrete evidence of (Iran’s) involvement in the Ukraine war,” Josep Borrell told reporters upon his arrival in Luxembourg, adding that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba would attend the meeting.
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said the EU should react vigorously to the new airstrikes on Kyiv. “What we can see now: Iranian drones are apparently used for attacks in the middle of Kyiv, that’s an atrocity,” said Kofod. The EU must respond with “concrete steps”. If the EU can prove that Iran supports the Russian side, not only individual people would be blacklisted, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.