EU imposes new sanctions on Iran - culture and education ministers affected

The EU foreign ministers have decided on new punitive measures because of the serious violations of human rights in Iran. According to the EU Official Journal, 32 people and two organizations are affected. In addition to judges, prosecutors and prison directors, the Iranian Minister of Culture Mohammed-Mehdi Esmaeili and the Iranian Minister of Education Yussef Nuri were also put on the sanctions list on Monday.

Among other things, Nuri is held responsible for the arbitrary arrest of students. According to the EU, numerous Iranian musicians, filmmakers, other artists and journalists were threatened, arrested and prosecuted on flimsy charges under Esmaeili's responsibility. Judges and prosecutors are held particularly responsible for death sentences against demonstrators. Human rights activists have counted a total of 55 executions since the beginning of the year, four of them in connection with the anti-government protests since September.

The punitive measures envisage freezing assets held in the EU. In addition, those affected are no longer allowed to travel to the EU.

The aim of the new sanctions is for those arrested in Iran, who had previously protested peacefully, to be released, said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn on the sidelines of the EU meeting at which the sanctions were decided on Monday. "It is the right of Iranians to go out and dress the way they want."

The trigger for the nationwide protests in Iran was the death of the Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini. She died in police custody on September 16 after being arrested by the Morality Police for breaking the Islamic dress code. According to human rights activists, more than 500 people have been killed and almost 20,000 demonstrators arrested since the protests began in September 2022.