Condemning in the strongest terms the executions of peaceful protesters in Iran, the European Parliament called, on Thursday 19 January, for additional sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations in the country.
In a joint resolution adopted by a show of hands by the Greens/EFA, Renew Europe, EPP, S&D and ECR groups, MEPs call for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its subsidiary forces, including the paramilitary Basij militia and the Quds Force, to be listed as an EU terrorist organisation, and for a ban on economic and financial activities involving companies and businesses linked to the IRGC or individuals affiliated to it.
They also want restrictive measures against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri and all foundations linked to the IRGC. According to the European Parliament, the EU should consider sanctions against the 227 members of the Iranian Parliament who have encouraged the use of the death penalty and against judges who have sentenced protesters.
The European Parliament believes that the Iranian regime’s “blatant disregard” for the human dignity and democratic aspirations of its own citizens and its support for Russia require “further adjustments” to the EU’s position towards the country.
MEPs strongly condemn the fact that criminal proceedings and the death penalty have been used by the Iranian regime to eradicate dissent and punish those who exercise their fundamental rights. They therefore call on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally halt all plans for executions, to annul the death sentences and sentences already passed and to refrain from passing further death sentences.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/4yq (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)