Iran censures EU for new sanctions over protests

By AFP 15 December 2022, 5:05 pm

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Protestors wave Iranian pre-Islamic revolution flags in front of the United Nations headquarters as they attend a rally amid a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Iran, in Geneva on November 24, 2022. (VALENTIN FLAURAUD / AFP)

Iran condemns the European Union for imposing new sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its response to protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

Protests have swept Iran since the September 16 death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic Republic’s dress code for women.

Officials in the country say hundreds of people have been killed in the street violence, including dozens of security forces, and thousands have been arrested.

The EU announced on Monday sanctions targeting Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, its army chief, Revolutionary Guards commanders and a cleric over what it called the “repression” of the protests.

Iran’s foreign ministry hit back, branding the 27-member bloc’s move “unacceptable and groundless.”

“Iran’s police and security forces have tried to control rampant violence in accordance with very precise and specific rules of conduct… as well as our religious teachings, based on respect for human rights and the rights of every individual,” it says in a statement.