The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced, on Wednesday 26 October, the adoption of sanctions against eight EU institutions and individuals in retaliation for sanctions adopted on 17 October in connection with the crackdown on peaceful protests in Iran (see EUROPE 13044/12).
According to the ministry, these individuals and institutions have “supported terrorist groups”, “incited violence” and “provoked riots, violence and terrorist acts” in Iran.
The so-called “Friends of a Free Iran” group and its members in the European Parliament are subject to sanctions, as are the group’s co-chairs, Javier Zarzalejos (EPP, Spanish) and Milan Zver (EPP, Slovenian), who are personally mentioned, Charlie Weimers (ECR, Swedish), Jan Zahradil (ECR, Czech), Helmut Geuking (EPP, German) and Hermann Tertsch (ECR, Spanish). The International Committee in Search of Justice (ICJ) and its members are also sanctioned.
Several media outlets are affected as well, including the Persian-language services of Deutsche Welle and RFI. The editors-in-chief of Bild, Johannes Boie and Alexandra Wurzbach, were also sanctioned.
The sanctions include a visa ban and the “seizure of their property and assets in the territory under Iran’s jurisdiction”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)