Iran: New EU sanctions against Iranian authorities as repression and imprisonment of journalists increase

In a bid to tighten the noose on the Iranian regime, the European Union is preparing to impose more sanctions over the deadly crackdown on protests triggered by the murder of a young Iranian woman.” An informed source confirmed that envoys at the EU meeting in Brussels are determined to support proposals for sanctions targeting several Iranian individuals and entities, after which EU foreign ministers will discuss the measures early next week.

New sanctions

A number of human rights groups confirmed that at least 17 people have been killed in Iran since Friday as security forces launched a crackdown on weekend protests in border regions that include some of the country’s largest ethnic minorities. These regions have been major trouble spots since the beginning of nationwide protests on September 17 following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who was detained by the police for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code, according to US Bloomberg Agency. The US agency added that Tehran repeatedly described the protests as hooliganism at the instigation of foreign countries and rejected international criticism of the violence by security forces, describing them as “hypocrisy” “including travel restrictions and asset freezes, with new sanctions planned.”

Crackdown on journalists

On the other hand, Iran accused two journalists on Tuesday of “propaganda against the state” after they covered the mass protests. The judiciary declared that the two journalists – Nilofer Hamidi and Ilah Mohammadi – “are being held in investigation for propaganda against the regime and conspiracy against national security,” despite the fact that both women have been detained for more than a month, according to the Voice of America network. According to the US network, the anti-government protests have entered their seventh week in Iran. Marches broke out across the country following the death of Mahsa Amini. Hameedi, who works for the popular reformist newspaper Shargh, was arrested on September 20 after visiting the hospital where Amini was transferred. Mohammadi, a reporter for the reformist newspaper Ham Mihan, was arrested on September 29 after traveling to Amini’s hometown to cover the funeral. As of Tuesday, more than 60 journalists had been arrested, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which tracks arrests in Iran. Some of those journalists were later released on bail, but new arrests remain in November. The pace of arrests “has made Iran among the world’s largest jailers of journalists in an astonishingly short time,” Committee to Protect Journalists head Judy Ginsberg said in a statement. “Iranian authorities are trying to silence a crucial moment in the country’s history,” and as the risks to journalists in Iran increase, Reporters without Borders (RSF) in Paris set up an aid office in cooperation with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi.