On Monday 20 March, the EU Foreign Affairs Council adopted restrictive measures directed against nine additional individuals and one entity deemed responsible for human rights violations in Iran.
The new sanctions “clearly demonstrate that we are not turning a blind eye to the serious human rights violations committed by the Iranian regime and that we are standing by the courageous people, especially the women and young people of Iran”, summarised German Minister Annalena Baerbock on her arrival at the EU Council.
The EU sanctioned the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution – a political body of the regime responsible for developing and formulating policies and strategic plans in the field of science, education, religion and research – and its Chair, Abdol Hossein Khosrou Panah.
The other people who have been sanctioned are: - Ahmad Rastinehet, a Member of the Iranian Parliament and spokesperson of the Cultural Commission; - three judges who have handed down death sentences in trials which the EU deems to be unfair; - a cleric, the spokesman of the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil, Hodjatoleslam Ali Khan Mohammadi; - the chief for cultural affairs and policy evolution at Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Vahid Jalili.
The latter two organisations have already been sanctioned by the EU.
The individuals who are being sanctioned face an asset freeze and an EU travel ban, while the entity faces an asset freeze.
With this new decision, the EU’s restrictive measures against the Iranian regime now apply to a total of 204 individuals and 34 entities.
See the legal act: https://aeur.eu/f/5wv (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)