Response to situation in Iran: EU plans sanctions against moral police

According to Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock, the EU wants to impose sanctions on Iran’s moral police. Its members should no longer be allowed to enter the EU. The moves are seen as a response to the crackdown on current protests in Iran.

According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the EU will impose sanctions on the Iranian moral police. The aim is to hold those responsible for brutal crimes against women, young people and men accountable, said the Green politician on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Those affected should no longer be allowed to enter the EU. Assets can also be frozen. The background to the EU’s action is the recent crackdown by the authorities in Iran on protests sparked by the death of a young woman who died after being arrested by the vice squad.

Baerbock said that in Iran, women who go out of the house without a headscarf or who want to sing and dance together in the evening are beaten up and sometimes killed. It’s about crimes against young people, children and women “who want nothing more than to live in peace and freedom”.

No progress in nuclear negotiations

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said before the meeting of foreign ministers that the European Union is currently not expecting any progress in talks with Iran about reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. “It’s a shame because we’ve come very, very close.”

In the summer, the EU submitted a proposal to save the agreement. It is intended to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. It was negotiated in 2015 by the USA, China, Russia, Germany, France, Great Britain and Iran.

In 2018, however, then US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reintroduced US sanctions against Iran. Iran, for its part, then began violating its commitments under the deal, as announced, making it more difficult to revive the deal. The government in Tehran has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons and says it only wants to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Iranian athlete takes off headscarf

In connection with the protests in Iran, a new action by a prominent individual is causing a stir: Iran’s climbing champion Elnas Rekabi took off the headscarf that is obligatory for Iranian athletes in the final of the Asian Championships in Seoul. The athlete was celebrated by many Iranians on social media.

The pro-government newspaper Hamshahri wrote: “It remains to be seen how the sports ministry will react to this action.” Rekabi is likely to be excluded from the national team. In the competitions in Seoul she finally reached fourth place.