Iran sanctions EU entities, individuals for sponsoring terrorism

• 

Iran's Foreign Ministry announced the imposition of sanctions on 20 EU figures and entities. The sanctions include EU MPs, as well as German and French media outlets, entities, and figures on account of supporting terrorism, as per the ministry.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry once again denounced the EU's October 17 sanctions targeting Iranian individuals and entities, which it said was a clear example of meddling in Iran's internal affairs.

The ministry added that the sanctions against a number of individuals and entities within the EU come in response to their "deliberate actions in support of terrorism and terrorist groups, encouraging and inciting terrorism, violence, and hatred, which has resulted in riots, violence, terrorist acts, and human rights violations against the people of Iran".

Friends of Free Iran, the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ), Stop the Bomb, Deutsche Welle Persian, RFI Persian, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, Karl Kolb Co., and Rhein Bayern Fahrzeugbau Co. are among the sanctioned organizations.

Furthermore, the blacklisted individuals include Aljo Vidal Quadras, president of the International Committee for Justice, and co-chairs of the Friends of Free Iran. Members of the European Parliament Javier Zarzalejos and Milan Azver Charlier Weimers, Jan Zahradil, Helmot Geuking, and Hermann Tertsch, members of the French National Assembly Meyer Habib, Matine Valleton, mayor of France's Villepinte, Jean-Francois Legaret, current, and former Bild newspaper editors-in-chief Johannes Boieand and Alexandra Wurzbach.

It is worth noting that Individuals on the blacklist are barred from obtaining a visa or entering Iran, and ownership of their properties and assets in Iran is transferred to the Iranian government.

This comes shortly after the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against British entities "due to their intentional actions in supporting terrorism and terrorist groups, promoting and inciting terrorism, violence, and hatred, and violating human rights," according to a statement.

London facilitated the riots

The sanctioned entities' measures have led to "riots, violence and terrorist acts" against the Iranian nation, according to the ministry, which also reminded the British government of its international commitments to confront terrorism, hatred, and human rights abuse.

London, instead of sticking to its claimed commitments, rather facilitated the entities' measures, amounting to a gross violation of the UK's commitments.

The statement pointed to 3 entities and 9 individuals, now blacklisted in Iran. The entities in question are the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) as well as Volant Media, Global Media, and DMA Media and anti-Iranian TV channels that they support namely, BBC Persian and Iran International.

The individuals, furthermore, are the UK's Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat, Royal Navy Commodore Don MacKinnon, Chair of the Labour Friends of "Israel" in the House of Commons Steve McCabe, Chair of Conservative Friends of "Israel" in the House of Commons Stephen Crabb, and honorary chair of Conservative Friends of "Israel" in the House of Lords Stuart Polak.

The sanctions have also targeted Conservative member of the House of Commons Bob Blackman, Member of the House of Commons and former secretary of State for the Environment Theresa Villiers, British politician Anthea McIntyre, and former Chief of the General Staff General Mark Carleton-Smith.

The sanctions would prohibit the individuals from obtaining visas to Iran, in addition to freezing their assets and their bank accounts in the country.

A flashback

EU foreign ministers have lately imposed asset freezes and travel bans linked to riots in Iran on Iran's morality police, four Iranian public institutions, and 11 Iranian individuals.

Among the main supporters of the sanctions were France and Germany, which believe that Iran's claimed supply of drones to Russia must be seen as a violation of the UN Security Council resolution.

While Western media accused Iran's morality police of having tortured Amini to death, all evidence so far points to the fact that Amini's death was natural, as she had suffered from poor health as a child and was operated on at Tehran's Milad Hospital in the year 2007 to remove a brain tumor, which caused her health problems down the line.

Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announced on September 30 the arrest of more than 250 people in connection to the riots that ensued following the death of Amini, including 9 foreigners.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pointed fingers at the US and "Israel" for fomenting the unrest rocking the country. "I say clearly that these riots and the insecurity were engineered by America and the occupying, false Zionist regime, as well as their paid agents," he said.

Media have exploited Mahsa Amini's death to reach the extent of chaotic protests, but Amini's father, Amjad Amini, condemned those actions and confirmed that the gatherings and demonstrations held in a number of Iranian provinces "have nothing" to do with the family and "were not for our sake."