Iran Calls New EU, UK Sanctions ‘Baseless’
Iran has dismissed sanctions imposed this week by the United Kingdom and the European Union against Iranian individuals and entities claiming they are “baseless”.
Iran has dismissed sanctions imposed this week by the United Kingdom and the European Union against Iranian individuals and entities claiming they are “baseless”.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani called the new round of sanctions “illegal and interventionist.”
He also added that the European parties have lost their “rationality” as such a “wrong approach” would restrict their “scope of interactions.”
Kanaani also threatened that Tehran will take countermeasures against such actions based on its national interests.
The European Union sanctioned 29 Iranians and three entities Monday over what it said was human rights violations related to suppression of ongoing protests.
A statement issued in Brussels, where foreign ministers met, said the move was over “their role in the death of Mahsa Amini and the violent response to the recent demonstrations in Iran.”
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters that the new sanctions would “send a clear message to those who think they can suppress, intimidate and kill their own people without consequences.”
Britain also slapped a new round of sanctions on 24 Iranian officials who played a role in cracking down on protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.
In a press release on Monday the United Kingdom announced the “sanctions target officials within the Iranian regime who are responsible for heinous human rights violations.”
Minister of Public Safety of Canada, Marco Mendicino, in a news release on Monday said Canada has designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as a regime that has engaged in “terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations.”
“This means that tens of thousands of senior members of the Iranian regime, including many members of the IRGC, are now inadmissible to Canada,” added Mendicino.
The list of senior officials encompasses a wide array of individuals in a regime that stands accused of perpetrating crimes against the people of Iran and other nations.
According to the Canadian government, heads of state, members of the Cabinet, ambassadors, senior diplomats, members of the judiciary, senior military and intelligence officials and senior public servants are included in the list.
“In addition to being banned from entering Canada, current and former senior officials present here may be investigated and removed from the country,” added the press release.
Mendicino, further noted that “Ottawa is taking decisive action by designating the Iranian regime and its most senior officials including the IRGC … and the consequences will be severe.”
He said this is the strongest sanction imposed on the Iranian regime yet, reiterating “we will continue to stand up for women’s rights and fight for justice on behalf of the families of PS752. Canada will be a beacon for human rights around the world.”
Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8 January 2020, it was shot down by the IRGC shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 passengers and crew aboard.
Meanwhile, Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser also asserted in a similar statement that senior officials of the Iranian regime and the IRGC are inadmissible to Canada.
“Canada is a country that many have come to in search of a safer and more prosperous future for them and their loved ones. Canada has a vibrant Iranian population, some of whom fled oppression in the past, and we are determined to take the most effective steps to keep them and all Canadians safe,” added Fraser.
Fraser went on to say that Iranian officials’ actions are reprehensible, and their views have no place in Canadian society.
In another development, Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau in a tweet slammed the brutality of the Iranian government, saying “Canada denounces the Iranian regime’s barbaric decision to impose the death penalty on nearly 15,000 protestors.”
Expressing support for the Iranian protesters, Trudeau underscored that “the brave Iranians were fighting for their human rights – and we continue to stand united in support of them, and united against the regime’s heinous actions.”
The nationwide uprising, largely led by women, has seen daily protests in cities across Iran calling for an end to rule by hardline clerics in the aftermath of the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police in September.
Back in October, Canada announced sanctions against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), permanently banning over 10,000 of its officers from entering Canada.
At the time, Trudeau said Canada has had designated Iran's IRGC leadership, adding that “we will restrict financial transactions with the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the IRGC and the proxies that support them. These actions are some of the strongest measures anywhere against Iran.”
In several articles over the past weeks, reformist commentators expressed concern that the situation is going toward a revolution while they claimed the nation wanted only to reform the system and warned that a dramatic change may lead to undesirable uncertainty.
On November 14, two reform figures, former President Mohammad Khatami and former vice president Massoumeh Ebtekar broke their silence after more than 8 weeks about a possible demise of the regime and voiced their opposition to dramatic changes in the Iranian political system.
Khatami, revealed his opposition to regime change by saying that it was "neither possible, nor desirable." Nonetheless, he warned that if the current state of affairs continues, the ground is paved for a looming social collapse.
Khatami called on the regime "to reform itself," but at the same time acknowledged that "a large part of the society shares the protesters' dissatisfaction" of the current political system.
On the same day, Ebtekar said in a commentary in the reformist daily Etemad in Tehran, "The new generation of Iranians believes it is not only the Iranian government, but the entire Iranian political system that is inefficient."
She added, "The Iranian government has been lagging behind the society for several years now. By not recognizing natural social developments, the Iranian government has created the current crisis for itself."
Ebtekar said elsewhere in her commentary: "the Iranian state television and other organizations with hefty government budgets which are responsible for keeping the public informed have failed to listen to young Iranians and their demands." She added that "Unfortunately, many religious and propaganda organizations deny the pluralism that exists in Iranian society and wish to dictate whatever that serves their interests."
The new generation that has grown up with the Internet and social media, believes to be a citizen of the world and cannot tolerate the traditional guidelines, Ebtekar said, adding that this has created a generational gap in Iran.
In an article carried by Etemad newspaper, Iranian American author and sociologist Asef Bayat wrote in a response to reformist commentator Abbas Abdi who had opposed regime change and expressed concern that the current protests might lead to a tragic end for Iranian society, "The tragedy of reformism in Iran is that Iranian reformists cannot further any reforms because they have been pushed out of the power circle, and at the same time they cannot agree with radical changes in Iran because by definition they are reformers and not revolutionaries."
Bayat wrote that "individuals like Abdi fear the cost of a revolution. They fear violence, instability and damage to the country's infrastructure. Ordinary people are also afraid of the cost of a revolution, but they risk everything when they see that all roads to reform are blocked.
"However, some people talk about the risks involved in a revolution as though the current situation is risk-free like a paradise," Bayat said adding that the costs of the current situation include an average 20 percent inflation, high unemployment particularly among educated Iranians, high recession in the 2010s, the collapse of the middle class and pushing 45 percent of the population under the poverty line, destruction of the country's environment and many of its villages, and the decline of Iranians' status in the world because of the government's adventurist policies.
Bayat argued that Mahsa Amini, the young woman murdered in custody of morality police, the workers in Assalouyeh oil and gas fields and millions of Iranian men and women are being constantly humiliated, losing their hopes and their lives. But those who have chosen not to submit to this gradual death have taken collective action to change the status quo.
