Two years after Mahsa Amini’s death, the EU continues to stand with the Iranian people

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16.09.2024 Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission

HRVP Blog - Two years ago, Mahsa Amini was killed in police custody in Iran, triggering the dignified "Women, Life, Freedom" movement. This movement faced brutal repression. At the same time, Iran has also chosen to provide massive support to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The latest delivery of ballistic missiles is a dangerous escalation. Such policies have been answered with successive EU targeted sanctions.

© AFP, 2024

Two years ago today, Mahsa Zhina Amini, a young Iranian woman, was killed in police custody. Her death sparked the huge protest movement "Women, Life, Freedom", led by women and girls. At least 500 people have died and over 20,000 have been detained in the brutal crackdown against this movement in 2022 and 2023. According to the independent international Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Iran, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, many of the human rights violations perpetrated against protesters amount to crimes against humanity.

A fresh round of harassment and violence against women

Recently, the renewed hijab crackdown has spurred a fresh round of harassment and violence. The government has bolstered its surveillance arresting women and girls for their peaceful activism. According to human rights organisations, Iran executes more women than any other country in the world. The new Iranian administration pledged to ease pressure on civil society and to end the use of force to enforce the hijab but until now it has instead presided over a surge in executions.

"The EU stands with Iranian women and people in their ongoing fight for human rights and fundamental freedoms"

The EU stands with Iranian women and people in their ongoing fight for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Since October 2022, we have adopted 10 sanctions packages against those responsible for this brutal repression. They concern currently 227 individuals, including several ministers, prominent members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), governors, judges, prison guards and directors… and 42 entities, including the IRGC, the Iranian Morality Police, the Ministries of Culture and Education, prisons or the state broadcaster Press TV. These persons and entities are banned from travelling to the EU and their assets in Europe are frozen. We have also forbidden to sell to Iran any material or services that could be used in the repression. In addition, the Council of the EU is currently discussing the possibility of designating the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.

Since the beginning of my mandate, despite all tensions and controversies, we have maintained regular contact with the Iranian authorities. Diplomacy is the way of settling international issues with people with whom you disagree. I have done so in particular because, as coordinator of the 2015 agreement on the Iranian nuclear program (JCPoA), I had the duty to try to preserve the very possibility of nuclear diplomacy with Iran after Donald Trump abruptly withdrew the United States from this agreement in 2018.

The fight against nuclear proliferation, a priority for the EU

I have often been criticised for this endeavour, but I am profoundly convinced that the fight against nuclear proliferation is and must remain one of the main foreign policy priorities of the European Union and of the international community. With Vladimir Putin and Kim Jung Un, we can unfortunately see the risks to world peace and global stability when authoritarian regimes devoid of all scruples and determined to defy international law are in possession of nuclear weapons. However, so far we have not been successful in this regard.

Instead of recognising the efforts made by the EU to help bring Iran back into the community of nations, the Iranian regime has decided to support the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. First by supplying large quantities of drones to Russia and now by delivering ballistic missiles. Following this delivery, as we warned repeatedly our Iranian counterparts, we will have to use again the specific sanctions framework against Iran's support to Russia's war created in 2023. I have proposed new restrictive measures to our Member States under that framework, including banning the Iranian airline from flying to the EU.

Iran is a great country with a long history. It could and should play a major role for peace and stability in the region and the world. However, for the time being, this is not the case and we are obliged to act accordingly.