EU imposes fresh sanctions on Iran for women's rights abuses

EU imposes fresh sanctions on Iran for women's rights abuses
Hundreds of people have been killed in protests in Iran, including at least 40 children, after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Credit: Nicolas Maeterlinck / Belga.

EU member states decided on Monday to sanction an additional eight people and one entity in Iran for their support of, or involvement in, the crackdown on anti-regime protests and attacks on the freedom of girls and women.

Among those banned from travelling to the EU, and whose assets there are reportedly frozen, are judges who have sentenced protesters to death, a state broadcaster who broadcasts the forced confessions of foreign hostages, and clerics who spread hatred against women, protesters and religious minorities.

The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution is also included in this package of EU sanctions, the sixth in six months, for promoting projects that undermine the freedom of girls and women.

Iran has been cracking down hard on protests sparked by the 16 September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who had been arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating the dress code for women.

European sanctions against Iran now cover 204 individuals and 34 entities.

The EU is also calling on Iran to end its practice of detaining foreign civilians, such as Belgian humanitarian worker Olivier Vandecasteele, for political gain.


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