BERLIN: Germany’s foreign minister is calling for European Union entry bans and asset freezes against those responsible for what she described as brutal repression against anti-government protesters in Iran.
The most sustained protests in years against Iran’s theocracy are now in their fourth week. They erupted Sept. 17 after the burial of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in the custody of Iran’s feared morality police. Amini had been detained for an alleged violation of strict Islamic dress codes for women.
Since then, protests spread across the country and have been met by a fierce crackdown, in which dozens are estimated to have been killed and hundreds arrested.
“Those who beat up women and girls on the street, carry off people who want nothing other than to live freely, arrest them arbitrarily and sentence them to death stand on the wrong side of history,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was quoted as telling Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“We will ensure that the EU imposes entry bans on those responsible for this brutal repression and freezes their assets in the EU,” she added. “We say to people in Iran: We stand and remain by your side.”
Baerbock didn’t name any specific individuals or organizations.
On Thursday, EU lawmakers approved a resolution calling for sanctions against those responsible for the death of Amini and the subsequent crackdown.
Germany, along with fellow EU member France, is among the nations that are part of a 2015 agreement with Iran to address concerns over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and have been attempting to revive the deal.
Talks on the deal have languished but if it’s reinstated, the agreement would provide sanctions relief that would help strengthen the Iranian government.
On Sunday, videos on Iranian social media appeared to show students staging a protest on the campus of Al-Zahra University in Tehran, a day after students chanted against Iran’s president during a visit there.
Protests erupted in cities across Iran on Saturday. In Tehran’s bazaar, traditionally a stronghold of Iran’s rulers, a crowd set fire to a police kiosk. Later that evening, anti-government marches drew a large crowd in the capital’s central Naziabad area, social media posts showed.
Facing persistent unrest, authorities have turned to targeting prominent Iranians who have expressed support for the protests.
The semi-official ILNA news agency reported that Iranian officials seized the passports of Homayoun SHajjarian, a prominent singer, and Sahar Dolatshahi, an actress, after the pair returned from a concert tour in Australia on Saturday. The passports were taken at Tehran’s international airport, the news agency said.
SHajjarian had expressed support for the protesters during his foreign tour. During a Sept. 13 concert, a large photo of Mahsa Amini served as a stage backdrop and he sang an old song dealing with cruelty and oppressors.
Another backdrop had the caption: “Don’t kill these people. These people deserve life, not death. These people deserve happiness and freedom. My position is clear, I will always stand by the people of my land.”
Since the start of the demonstrations, Iranian authorities have detained a number of prominent artists, including singer Shervin Hajjipour whose song “For” became an anthem of the protest movement. Hajjipour was released on bail on Oct. 4.
German FM calls for EU sanctions over Iran crackdown
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German FM calls for EU sanctions over Iran crackdown
- “We will ensure that the EU imposes entry bans on those responsible for this brutal repression and freezes their assets in the EU”: German FM
Iran’s president says rioters must not disrupt society
- Pezeshkian accused the US and Israel of “trying to escalate this unrest with regard to the economic discussion and solutions we are working on”
TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said “rioters” should not be allowed to disrupt society, in his first remarks after three nights of intensified protests against the country’s authorities.
Pezeshkian, in an interview with state TV on Sunday, said “protesting is the people’s right,” but echoed authorities in drawing a line between outcry over Iran’s dire economy and “rioters” they allege are backed by the US and Israel.
“The people (of Iran) should not allow rioters to disrupt society. The people should believe that we (the government) want to establish justice,” he told state broadcaster IRIB.
Pezeshkian called on Iranians to “come together and not let these people riot” on the streets.
“If people have a concern, we will hear them. It is our duty to hear them and solve their problems. However, our highest duty is not to allow rioters to come and disrupt society,” he said.
Pezeshkian accused the US and Israel of “trying to escalate this unrest with regard to the economic discussion and solutions we are working on.”
“They have taken some people here inside and abroad and trained them. They brought terrorists in from abroad into the country,” he said, calling those who had set the mosque on fire “not human.”
State TV has aired images of buildings, including a mosque on fire, with authorities saying members of the security forces have been killed.
US President Donald Trump has said his country “stands ready to help” demonstrators and threatened new military action against Iranian authorities “if they start killing people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he hoped Iran would soon be freed from what he described as the “yoke of tyranny.”
