One day after the European Union expanded its sanctions against decision-makers in Iran, Tehran reacted: the mullahs’ regime put a good 30 European people and companies on its sanctions list. German politicians are also affected.
A day after the EU sanctions were tightened against Iran, Tehran, for its part, imposed punitive measures on more than 30 companies and individuals from the European Union, including German politicians. According to a list published by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on its website, this includes members of the Bundestag Roderich Kiesewetter from the CDU and Renata Alt from the FDP.
Iran accuses the sanctioned party of “supporting terrorism, interfering in the country’s internal affairs and inciting violence and unrest in Iran”. Several armaments companies and members of the EU Parliament and national parliaments are also on the sanctions list. They were all subject to asset and entry bans.
The EU foreign ministers had previously tightened their sanctions against Tehran because of the ongoing violence against demonstrators in Iran. They placed 32 other Iranian leaders and two organizations with property and entry bans. The EU holds those affected responsible, among other things, for the suppression of freedom of expression and the recent series of executions in Iran.
Human rights activists have counted a total of 55 death sentences carried out in Iran since the beginning of the year, four of them in connection with the anti-government protests that have been going on since September. The demonstrations were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini. She died after being arrested by the vice squad for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested during the protests.
The already tense relations between Tehran and the West are additionally burdened by two sentences against non-Iranian citizens: The German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, who was kidnapped to Iran two years ago, was sentenced to death on charges of terrorism, an Austrian in one another trial for espionage to seven and a half years in prison.
