Why Scholz is now attacking Iran so sharply

The European Union is imposing new sanctions on the country because of serious human rights violations in Iran. Specifically, 31 people and institutions are said to be affected by the travel bans and account freezes, including members of the inner circle of the so-called Revolutionary Guards, who are an important pillar of the terror regime there. The EU wants to punish those "responsible for the suppression of the demonstrators", said EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

In the past few weeks, the police and military had reacted, often with deadly violence, to protests triggered by the violent death of a young woman who was allegedly not wearing her headscarf in accordance with Islamic rules and was arrested by the vice squad as a result. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) commented on the sanctions decision: "We hold those responsible for these human rights crimes accountable."

The EU governments were again faced with a difficult question when deciding on sanctions against the mullah regime: How far can you go? On the one hand, the Europeans want to punish Tehran appropriately for the brutal oppression of its own population, but on the other hand, further sanctions could also mean that the numerous EU citizens imprisoned in Iran, most of whom have two citizenships and some are life-threateningly ill, will be even worse off in the future becomes.

An example might be the German-Iranian human rights activist Nahid Taghavi. She was released from the notorious Evin Prison on July 19 after months of solitary confinement due to serious health problems and was surprisingly returned there on Saturday - although she is still in severe pain.

Was that a coincidence or a calculation? Everything looks more like a tit-for-tat from Iran. Because on Saturday of all days, Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply attacked the regime in Tehran: "What kind of government is this that shoots at its own citizens?" he asked. He also defended new sanctions against Tehran. Iran's government then announced that it would respond "appropriately".

Scholz' clear words towards Tehran came as a surprise. For a long time, Berlin was careful to maintain reliable contacts with Tehran, despite the aggressiveness of the mullahs' regime. This attitude appears to be changing now. There are reasons for this: In Berlin, people no longer expect that there is still a real chance of reviving the nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Secondly, the Greens were able to assert themselves on this issue, Baerbock had been drumming for tougher sanctions for weeks. Another reason for Scholz's statements from the weekend might also be that he no longer wanted to leave the alignment of German foreign policy to human rights to Baerbock alone.