EU eyes sanctions on Iran over violent crackdown

AFP | Brussels

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The EU is “looking into” imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression of protests convulsing the country, the bloc said yesterday.

“We stand ready to propose new, more severe sanctions following the violent crackdown on protesters,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for an end to the Iranian authorities’ violent crackdown of a wave of nationwide protests that has killed at least 648 people.

“The killing & brutal repression of peaceful protesters in Iran is horrific,” Cooper said on X.

“I have spoken to (Iranian) Foreign Minister (Abbas) Aragchi and told him directly: the Iranian government must immediately end the violence, uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, and ensure British nationals are safe,” she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced “state violence” targeting Iranian protesters.

“I condemn the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights,” Macron wrote on X.

“Respect for fundamental freedoms is a universal requirement, and we stand alongside those who defend them,” he added.

At least 648 protesters have been killed in the crackdown by Iranian security forces on a protest movement that has shaken the Islamic republic, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said yesterday, warning the actual toll could be far higher.

“The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic republic,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, commenting on the new tally of deaths.

IHR said that “according to some estimates more than 6,000 may have been killed”, but warned that the almost four-day internet blackout imposed by the Iranian authorities makes it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”.