The EU imposes new sanctions on Iran, but will not call the Guardians “terrorists” for now
BRUSSELS, 23 january (Reuters) – Monday European Union More than 30 Iran imposed sanctions, accusing the official and his organization, including units of the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, of “brutal” repression against protesters and other human rights abuses.
United States and Britain has also imposed new sanctions on Iran, reflecting the deterioration of the West’s already poor relations with Tehran in recent months.
Foreign ministers of 27 EU member countries agreed on the measures at a meeting held in Brussels.
According to the list published in the Official Journal of the EU, the sanctions targeted units and senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran, including Sunni areas where state repression is intense.
Some EU governments and the European parliament They made it clear that they want the IKK to be included in the list of terrorist organizations of the bloc as a whole. However, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell noted that this can only happen if a court in one of the EU countries finds the SEPAH guilty of terrorism.
He told reporters before the Brussels talks: “You cannot say, ‘I consider you a terrorist because I don’t like you.’
New sanctions were applied against 18 individuals and 19 institutions. Those targeted cannot travel to the EU and any assets they hold within the EU can be frozen.
Relations between the EU and Tehran have stalled efforts to revive talks on the nuclear program and Iran’s several Europe citizen imprisonment it worsened during the action to do so.
The bloc also condemned the continued violent treatment of protesters in Iran, including executions and Iran is increasingly criticizing the transfer of drones to Russia.
Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, said the new sanctions targeted “those responsible for repression”.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom wrote on the Twitter page of the country’s EU diplomatic mission: “E.U Iran strongly condemns the government’s brutal and disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators.”
SEPAH was created shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shia clerical system of governance. Army, navy and weather has an army of about 125,000 men with its divisions and commands the Basij religious militia, which is often used in raids.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the meeting held on Monday: “The Iranian regime is terrorizing its own people on the day of the Revolutionary Guards.”
A day before the Brussels meeting, more than a thousand people protested the detention of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele in Iran. protest went to the streets of the city.
Iran has previously warned the EU against recognizing the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Reporting by Andrew Gray, Bart Meijer Philip Blenkinsop and Parisa Hafezi Writing by Ingrid Melander and Gabriela Baczynska Editing by Peter Graff, Timothy Heritage and John Stonestreet
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-01-24 08:03:48
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”