G7 Foreign Ministers condemned, on Friday 4 November, the violent death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by Iran’s so-called “morality police” and the “brutal and disproportionate” use of force against peaceful protesters and children.
“We urge Iranian authorities to honour their international obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, they said in a joint statement.
The heads of diplomacy called for the release of unjustly detained prisoners and to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses are held to account.
“We will continue to use all available diplomatic measures to hold the Iranian authorities to account”, the G7 warned. Furthermore, it strongly rejected Iran’s practice of unjustly detaining foreign and dual citizens and called on Iran to end the “repellent practice of such unjust detentions in hopes of political gain”.
Ahead of the meeting, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, had stressed that it was necessary to “differentiate (the) strong support to the demonstrators and especially to the women - the brave women in Iran - from the need to try to (avoid) Iran becoming a nuclear power”, he had explained.
Thus, the G7 called on Tehran to change course and fulfil its legal obligations and political commitments in the field of nuclear non-proliferation without further delay. According to Mr Borrell, the negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are “deadlocked” and there is “nothing new”.
In a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on 3 November, he reiterated the “urgent need” for credible Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency “with a view to achieving tangible results”.
The G7 also strongly condemned Iran’s continued destabilising activities in the Middle East and the region. “We urge Iran to cease its support to violent state and non-state actors and proxy groups and fully abide by all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions”, the ministers added. The High Representative of the Union called on Iran to stop supplying arms to Russia.
Ambassador James O'Brien, sanctions coordinator at the US State Department, told journalists in Brussels on 4 November that Iran had made “a serious mistake” in supplying drones to Russia, “a fundamental miscalculation”. The EU and the US have already adopted measures against Iran in this regard.
See the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/3wx (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)