Germany’s foreign minister has called on the European Union to slap new sanctions on Iran for what she described as Tehran’s brutal repression against anti-government protesters in several Iranian cities.
Annalena Baerbock was quoted on October 9 as telling the Bild Am Sonntag newspaper that “those who beat up women and girls on the street, carry off people who want nothing other than to live freely, arrest them arbitrarily, and sentence them to death stand on the wrong side of history.”
Baerbock said, without citing specific individuals, that “we will ensure that the EU imposes entry bans on those responsible for this brutal repression and freezes their assets in the EU."
"We say to people in Iran: We stand and remain by your side.”
Protests and crackdown violence have struck Iran in recent weeks as demonstrators angry over the death of a young woman detained over the Islamic dress code continued to defy officials' warnings of tough punishments to stem the unrest.
SEE ALSO: Iran Authorities Reportedly Fire On Protesters In Fourth Week Of Anti-Regime UnrestMahsa Amini died on September 16, three days after being detained by morality police because of "improperly" wearing the hijab, a head scarf that is mandatory for women in Iran to wear while in public.
It remains unclear as to what caused Amini's death. Critics blame police brutality, while the authorities say she died of heart failure.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Tehran authorities of employing excessive repressive measures, including lethal force, against participants in the nationwide protests. Rights groups say that up to 185 people have been killed in the crackdown.
EU lawmakers have approved a resolution calling for sanctions against those responsible for the death of Amini and the violent crackdown.