BRUSSELS: The EU on Monday hit more than 30 senior Iranian officials and organizations with sanctions over the crackdown on protesters and supply of drones to Russia.
The bloc targeted Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi and the head of Iran’s ground forces Kiyumars Heidari among those it said were responsible for the repression of demonstrations after the death of Mahsa Amini.
Four members of the squad who detained Amini were also put on the blacklist.
Among the organizations hit was state broadcaster Press TV, which was accused of of airing “forced confessions of detainees.”
“The EU strongly condemns the unacceptable violent crackdown of protesters,” EU chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
“We stand with the Iranian people and support their right to protest peacefully and voice their demands and views freely.”
Tehran has warned of a “proportionate and firm” response to the EU over the expanded sanctions.
Last month the EU hit Iran’s “morality” police, Revolutionary Guard and IT minister in a first wave of sanctions over the crackdown.
The EU ministers meeting in Brussels also signed off on adding the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Hossein Salami to a blacklist over supplies of Iranian drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.
The bloc in addition included the head of the Guard’s airforce Amir Ali Hajjizadeh and the Qods drone maker.
The EU last month already slapped asset freezes and visa bans on another Iranian drone maker and three top military officials over deliveries of kamikaze drones used to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
A senior EU official said the bloc was probing reports over the possible delivery of ballistic missiles by Iran to Russia and would sanction Tehran further if it sent the arms.
Borrell said so far that Brussels had “no evidence” over the supplies of ballistic missiles.
Brussels has faced a tricky balancing act over its response to Tehran as the EU is mediating a push to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Those efforts to get Iran and the United States back onboard with the agreement have largely stalled.
“It is not in a good track, you know, stalemate, but the work continues,” Borrell said.
EU expands Iran sanctions over crackdown, Russia drones
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EU expands Iran sanctions over crackdown, Russia drones
- Four members of the squad who detained Amini were also put on the blacklist
- The bloc in addition included the head of the Guard’s airforce Amir Ali Hajjizadeh and the Qods drone maker
Israeli settlers spray ‘revenge’ messages outside Church of the Visitation in Jerusalem
- Extremists vandalized church walls and parked vehicles in Ein Karem, a Palestinian village before 1948
- Israeli police announced probe into the ‘nationalist graffiti’
LONDON: Israeli settlers on Thursday vandalized the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, a neighborhood in the western part of Jerusalem, according to Wafa news agency.
The Jerusalem Governorate of the Palestinian Authority reported that extremists vandalized church walls and parked vehicles in Ein Karem, which was a Palestinian village before 1948.
Photos show graffiti in red spray paint in Hebrew that says: “Revenge,” “David, king of Israel lives and endures,” and “The (Jewish) messiah is here!” near the outer wall of the Catholic church.
Israeli police announced they are investigating the “nationalist graffiti” and have begun collecting evidence to track down the vandals, according to The Times of Israel.
The governorate said that the vandalism is part of mounting violations by Israeli settlers against religious sites in Jerusalem, including incursions into churches and mosques, and desecration of historical and religious sites.
Settlers commonly spray graffiti during attacks on Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where, since October 2023, there has been a sharp increase in such attacks.
