The EU has condemned what it described as ongoing repression by Iran’s authorities, citing executions, violence, arbitrary detention and intimidation.
The EU criticism came in a statement released on Thursday by the European External Action Service (EEAS), four years after the killing of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini and the launch of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement
The statement also referred to nationwide protests in January 2026, during which “thousands of protesters were murdered.”
The EU “commends the courage of Iranian women and men” and said it supports their aspirations for a future in which “universal human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected, protected and fulfilled.”
The statement also referred to a war that it said had “added an additional layer of suffering” and said the EU was “deeply saddened by the loss of innocent people killed in the strikes.”
Executions and the death penalty
“The current pace of executions in Iran is appalling,” the EEAS said.
The EU has “a firm and principled opposition” to capital punishment “in all cases and in all circumstances”, it added, describing the death penalty as incompatible with the right to life and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
The EU and its member states called on Iran’s authorities to “cease the violence and repression against their own people.”
