European Parliament resolution of 19 January 2023 on the EU response to the protests and executions in Iran (2023/2511(RSP))
Date: 2023-01-19
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Iran, anti-discriminatory measure, censorship, cruel and degrading treatment, death penalty, government violence, human rights, right to demonstrate, torture








C_2023214EN.01011401.xml










16.6.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 214/114






P9_TA(2023)0016
EU response to the protests and executions in Iran
European Parliament resolution of 19 January 2023 on the EU response to the protests and executions in Iran (2023/2511(RSP))
(2023/C 214/11)

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, in particular those of 6 October 2022 on the death of Jina Mahsa Amini and the repression of women’s rights protesters in Iran (1) and of 17 February 2022 on the death penalty in Iran (2), as well as all its other resolutions on the human rights situation in Iran,










—


having regard to the UN General Assembly Third Committee resolution of 16 November 2022 on Human Rights in Iran,










—


having regard to the statement by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of 10 January 2023,










—


having regard to the statement by the UN Experts of 11 November 2022 calling on Iran to stop sentencing peaceful protesters to death,










—


having regard to the special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the Islamic Republic of Iran, which took place on 24 November 2022, and the resolution adopted at that session,










—


having regard to the reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran of 22 September 2022, 18 June 2022, 13 January 2022, and 11 January 2021,










—


having regard to the G7 foreign ministers’ statement of 4 November 2022,










—


having regard to the EU Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 12 December 2022,










—


having regard to the sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities adopted by the Council of the EU on 12 April 2021, 17 October 2022, 20 October 2022 and 14 November 2022 and to Council implementing decision (CFSP) 2022/2433 of 12 December 2022 (3),










—


having regard to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sanctions against European and British entities and individuals,










—


having regard to the statements of the European External Action Service (EEAS) spokesperson of 7 January 2023 on the recent executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, of 8 December 2022 on the execution of Mohsen Sekari and of 15 January 2023 on the execution of Mr Alireza Akbari,










—


having regard to the declaration by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the EU on Iran of 25 September 2022 and the statement by the European External Action Service spokesperson of 19 September 2022 on the death of Jina Mahsa Amini,










—


having regard to the press release of the EEAS spokesperson of 9 January 2023 announcing the summoning of the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the European Union,










—


having regard to the statements of the Chair of its Delegation for Relations with Iran of 22 September 2022, 9 November 2022 and 13 December 2022,










—


having regard to the joint statement by Canada and the United States of 9 December 2022 on the human rights situation in Iran,










—


having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 (ICCPR), and to Iran’s ratification thereof in June 1975,










—


having regard to the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime,










—


having regard to Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism (4),










—


having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 of 27 December 2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism (5),










—


having regard to Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA and amending Council Decision 2005/671/JHA (6),










—


having regard to the EU guidelines on the death penalty, on human rights defenders and on violence against women and girls and combating all forms of discrimination against them,










—


having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,










—


having regard to Rule 132(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas on 13 September 2022, 22-year old Kurdish Iranian woman Jina Mahsa Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s ‘morality’ police for an alleged failure to observe the mandatory veiling law; whereas Jina Mahsa Amini was brutally tortured and died on 16 September 2022 while in police custody; whereas a proper investigation has not been concluded;










B.


whereas, following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, nation-wide protests broke out across the country, involving hundreds of thousands of Iranian citizens representing all segments of society; whereas the protests were initiated by women demanding accountability for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini and calling for an end to violence and discrimination against women in Iran; whereas during the protests, many women have taken off their hijabs or cut their hair in protest at Jina Mahsa Amini’s death; whereas the women’s protests inspired solidarity from men, sparking a pan-Iranian revolution and a protest movement against the regime; whereas students are protesting at numerous universities across the country by boycotting their classes and demonstrating against repression; whereas Jina Mahsa Amini was from the Kurdistan region of Iran, in which protests have been widespread and have met with a repressive response from the regime;










C.


whereas the response of the Iranian security and police forces to the protests is violent, indiscriminate, disproportionate and unrestrained; whereas the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi have repeatedly expressed praise for, and encouraged, the violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations and the killing of protesters by the paramilitary Basij militia of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC);










D.


whereas, as of 16 January 2023, Iranian security forces had reportedly killed several hundreds of peaceful protesters, including dozens of children, and detained, arrested and abducted more than 20 000 demonstrators, among them human rights defenders, students, lawyers and civil society activists, including EU citizens and residents from Germany, Poland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden;










E.


whereas Iran does not recognise dual nationality, thereby limiting the access that foreign embassies have to their dual nationals held in the country; whereas ex-deputy Iranian Defence Minister Alireza Akbari, a holder of British and Iranian dual nationality, was convicted of spying for the United Kingdom in Iran, which he denied, sentenced to death and executed; whereas Swedish-Iranian national Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, who specialises in emergency medicine and is a scholar at Belgium’s Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Italy’s Università del Piemonte Orientale, was arrested on 24 April 2016 by the Iranian security forces; whereas he was sentenced to death on spurious espionage charges in October 2017 following a grossly unfair trial based on a confession extracted under torture; whereas the sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court on 17 June 2018; whereas Franco-Iranian researcher Fariba Adelkhah was arrested in June 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison for ‘undermining national security’;










F.


whereas other EU nationals are being arbitrarily detained in Iran, including the Belgian national Olivier Vandecasteele, who was sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison and dozens of lashes on the basis of a series of fabricated allegations; whereas the sentence was handed down after Belgium’s highest court suspended a controversial bilateral treaty on prisoner exchanges that would have allowed Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, convicted of attempted terrorism in Belgium, to be sent back to the Islamic Republic of Iran in return for Olivier Vandecasteele’s freedom; whereas seven French citizens are still being detained in Iran, including Cécile Kohler, a teacher and trade unionist, and her partner Jacques Paris, as well as Benjamin Brière, who were arrested in May 2020 and sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison for ‘espionage’;










G.


whereas Iran has the world’s highest number of executions per capita; whereas the Iranian regime has imposed and carried out death sentences against peaceful protesters, including minors, following unfair and summary judicial proceedings violating the most basic and fundamental requirements of a fair trial; whereas Amnesty International has found evidence that the Iranian regime continues to wield the death penalty as a weapon of repression to crush protest; whereas the police and security forces of the Islamic Republic perpetrate widespread torture, rape, and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment against detainees in Iranian prisons;










H.


whereas Amnesty International has compiled a list of approximately 25 individuals who are at serious risk of execution, notably Mohammad Ghobadlou; whereas Amnesty International raises fears that many more people could face the death penalty for their participation in the protests; whereas the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that more than 40 Iranian artists have been charged with crimes carrying the death penalty; whereas Iranian actors, musicians, athletes and other celebrities have publicly backed the protests against the clerical establishment;










I.


whereas the human rights situation in Iran is continuing to deteriorate; whereas the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini and others, as well as the current wave of executions, are illustrative of the ongoing human rights crisis in Iran; whereas this deterioration is perpetuated by the systemic impunity of the Iranian regime and its security apparatus, which has permitted widespread torture as well as extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings; whereas the Iranian criminal justice system relies heavily on forced confessions extracted through torture and other forms of coercion and constraint; whereas the worldwide abolition of the death penalty is one of the main objectives of the EU’s human rights policy;










J.


whereas, in blatant violation of the separation of powers, on 6 November 2022, 227 members of the Iranian parliament called on the judiciary to act decisively against people arrested during the protests and to make use of the death penalty as a punishment;










K.


whereas the Iranian Constitution grants ethnic minorities equal rights; whereas the death penalty is disproportionately applied to LGBTIQ+ people and those belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, notably the Baluch, Kurds, Arabs, Baha’is and Christians; whereas an increasing number of human rights defenders have been arrested since the killings and the crackdown started; whereas women and girls, who have been at the forefront of protests, including members of ethnic and religious minorities, have been arrested and jailed for demanding an end to systemic and systematic discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and are being particularly targeted with charges carrying the death penalty and with death sentences;










L.


whereas a group of human rights experts, including several UN Special Procedures mandate-holders, have issued a statement condemning the killings and the crackdown by security forces in Iran on protesters; whereas the experts conveyed their deep concerns about the ‘excessive and lethal force’ used against demonstrators in the protests that followed Ms Amini’s death, including sexual violence against women and girls, intimidation and harassment against protesters, and systematic impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations; whereas the UN Experts urged the Iranian regime on 11 November 2022 to stop indicting people with charges punishable by death for their participation, or alleged participation, in peaceful demonstrations;










M.


whereas the UN Experts called on the Human Rights Council to urgently take the necessary actions to hold a special session on the situation in Iran and to establish an international investigative mechanism, to ensure accountability in Iran and to end the persistent impunity for grave human rights violations; whereas the Human Rights Council held a special session on 24 November 2022 on the situation in Iran; whereas at this special session it was agreed that an independent international fact-finding mission should investigate human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, collect and analyse evidence and engage with stakeholders to establish the facts surrounding these allegations with a view to bringing all perpetrators of severe human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the highest authorities, to justice;










N.


whereas the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights indicated on 10 January 2023 that the weaponisation of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights amounts to state sanctioned killing;










O.


whereas the EU foreign affairs ministers adopted Council conclusions on Iran on 12 December 2022; whereas these conclusions notably call on the Iranian authorities to immediately abolish the deplorable practice of imposing and carrying out death sentences against protesters as well as to annul without delay the recent death penalty sentences pronounced in the context of the ongoing protests and ensure that due process is provided to all detainees;










P.


whereas on 9 January 2023, the Secretary-General of the EEAS summoned the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the European Union, on behalf of the High Representative, to reiterate the EU’s abhorrence at the recent executions of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, who were arrested and sentenced to death in connection with the protests in Iran; whereas Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard were executed for their participation in the protests on 8 and 12 December 2022, respectively;










Q.


whereas Canada and the United States issued a joint statement on 9 December 2022 condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran’s brutal acts of violence against peaceful protesters and the ongoing repression of the Iranian people and the oppression and state-sponsored violence against women; whereas both countries further adopted sanctions against Iranian officials connected to human rights abuses, including those committed as part of the ongoing brutal crackdown;










R.


whereas the EU has recently and on several occasions adopted restrictive measures related to these blatant violations of human rights, notably against high-ranking individuals within the IRGC, including asset freezes, bans on travel to the EU and a prohibition on making funds or economic resources available for the listed individuals and entities in response to their role in the violent crackdown in Iran and the Islamic Republic’s provision of armed drones used in terrorist activities perpetrated by the Russian Federation against Ukraine; whereas the list of those subject to EU restrictive measures in the context of the existing Iran human rights sanctions regime now comprises a total of 126 individuals and 11 entities; whereas the EU sanctions list notably includes Iran’s Minister of Interior, Ahmad Vahidi, its Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Issa Zarepour, the Iranian law enforcement forces and the provincial heads of the IRGC;










S.


whereas, as a reciprocal action, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted counter-measures under the sanctions mechanism which notably target Ms Neumann, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the Arab Peninsula, as well as other Members and German and French former politicians; whereas in response to Iran’s sanctions on Members of the European Parliament, in November 2022 Parliament decided that its delegations and committees will no longer engage with the Iranian authorities;










T.


whereas the Islamic Republic, in particular through the IRGC, engages in large-scale, sophisticated and violent transnational repression activities targeting exiled and diaspora activists, dissidents, independent journalists, and human rights defenders, including on EU soil, as well as threatening and harassing their family members in Iran; whereas the Islamic Republic, both directly and by acting through local proxies, has assassinated diaspora dissidents, kidnapped exiles for abduction to Iran, and plotted bomb attacks in several countries, including EU Member States;










U.


whereas the regime of the Islamic Republic is deliberately disrupting internet and mobile connections and severely restricting social media platforms to undermine the ability of the Iranian population to organise protests; whereas the EU sanctions regime also includes a ban on exports to the Islamic Republic of Iran of equipment which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications;










V.


whereas Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) Josep Borrell, in his statements of 8 December 2022 and 7 January 2023, condemned the execution of Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hossein; whereas his statements call on the Iranian authorities to immediately end the practice of imposing and carrying out death sentences against protesters; whereas, in these statements, the EU further calls on the Iranian authorities to annul without delay the recent death sentences and to strictly abide by their international obligations;










W.


whereas the Islamic Republic has accused Kurdish groups, including those inside Iraq, of inciting protests in Iranian Kurdistan; whereas, under this pretext, the IRGC has launched armed attacks against the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, killing dozens, including civilians; whereas the crackdown on the protests has been especially severe in northwest and southeast Iran, where many members of the country’s Kurdish and Baluch minorities live;










X.


whereas the IRGC, comprised of the paramilitary Basij militia, the Quds Force, the Ground Forces, the Aerospace Force and the Navy, plays a central role in the repression of internal dissent and external military activity; whereas the IRGC, acting as a state within a state, reportedly controls two thirds of the Iranian economy, including holdings in the infrastructure, petrochemicals, financial, telecommunications, automotive, and marine industry sectors, as well as sizeable patronage trusts known as ‘bonyads’ and large-scale illicit smuggling networks;










Y.


whereas women and girls are brutally murdered in Iran in so-called ‘honour killings’; whereas victims often receive no justice in crimes committed against them in the name of ‘honour’;










Z.


whereas the IRGC perpetrates, guides and contributes to terrorist activity both domestically and regionally; whereas the Russian aggression against Ukraine has resulted in the deepening of Tehran’s relations with Moscow;










AA.


whereas the aggressive interior policy of the Mullah regime is emulated in the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy; whereas the regime contributes to destabilising the whole Middle East region and beyond;










AB.


whereas Ebrahim Raisi, who was elected President of Iran in June 2021 and is on the US sanctions list, previously served as chief of the Iranian judiciary, despite having a well-documented record of grave human rights violations; whereas Ebrahim Raisi’s victory was engineered by the Islamic Republic’s institutions in elections that were not fully free or fair; whereas only 7 out of 592 candidates received the green light from the Guardian Council to run for the presidency; whereas none of the candidates were women, persons from minority groups or those who held views opposed to the regime’s;










AC.


whereas negotiations on the renewal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have still not been officially suspended; whereas talks continue on the safeguards probe that was launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency after it found traces of uranium at three undeclared sites in Iran;












1.


Condemns in the strongest terms the death sentences against and executions of peaceful protesters in Iran, notably Mohsen Shekari, Majidreza Rahnavard, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini; demands that the Iranian authorities immediately and unconditionally halt any plans to carry out executions and refrain from seeking further death sentences; calls on the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to establish an official moratorium on executions with the objective of abolishing the death penalty completely; urges the Iranian authorities to quash all convictions and death sentences; reiterates its firm and principled opposition to the use of capital punishment at all times and in all circumstances;












2.


Urges the authorities of the Islamic Republic to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters sentenced to death, including Mohammed Boroughani, Mohammad Ghobadlou, Hamid Ghare Hassanlou, Mahan Sadrat Marani, Hossein Mohammadi, Manouchehr Mehman Navaz, Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh, Saman Seydi, Reza Arya, Saleh Mirhashemi Baltaghi, Saeed Yaqoubi Kordafli, Javad Rouhi, Arshia Takdastan, and Mehdi Mohammadifard, Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeid Yaghoubi; strongly condemns the fact that the criminal proceedings and the death penalty have been weaponised by the Iranian regime to stamp out dissent and to punish people for exercising their basic rights; calls on the Islamic Republic to review its legal code and eliminate moharebeh (‘enmity against God’) and mofsed-e-filarz (‘corruption on earth’) as punishable offences;












3.


Expresses its solidarity with the Iranian youth, women and men, including minorities, leading and participating in the protests; supports the peaceful protest movement across the country against the systemic and increasing oppression and against the severe and mass violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms; strongly supports the aspirations of the Iranian people to live in a free, stable, inclusive and democratic country; condemns the Iranian regime’s systematic discrimination against women through laws and regulations that severely restrict their freedoms, lives and livelihoods;












4.


Extends its condolences to the families of all those who have been killed, tortured, abducted or unlawfully imprisoned following the recent and previous protests in Iran;












5.


Reiterates its strong condemnation of the widespread, brutal, intentional and disproportionate use of force by the Iranian security forces against peaceful protesters; calls on the Iranian authorities to put an end to the crackdown on their own citizens; recalls that the right to peaceful assembly must be ensured;












6.


Demands that the international community and the EU and its Member States use all engagements with the authorities of the Islamic Republic to demand an immediate end to the execution of protesters and violent crackdown against protests, and the unconditional release of all those arrested for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; calls on the EEAS and Member States to continue holding the Iranian regime accountable for the killing of its own people and grave human rights violations;












7.


Calls on the Iranian regime to allow for an international, impartial and effective investigation into the regime’s human rights abuses, including Jina Mahsa Amini’s killing, the killing of hundreds of protesters, and torture and ill-treatment suffered by those arbitrarily detained, to be conducted by an independent competent authority in cooperation with international organisations; demands that the Iranian authorities allow for a swift, evidence-based, impartial and effective investigation into all killings of protesters and that those responsible be brought to justice; underlines that the EU should continue to address the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini and the way the Iranian security forces have responded to the ensuing demonstrations;












8.


Urges the immediate release of all individuals detained for their involvement in peaceful demonstrations, and all political prisoners; calls for targeted restrictive measures to be imposed under Regulation (EU) No 359/2011 on all judges issuing sentences against protesters; further demands that the Iranian authorities immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against anyone who is imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in connection with the protests; calls on the Iranian authorities to live up to their international obligations, including those under the ICCPR;












9.


Welcomes the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 12 December 2022 and the adoption of the recent restrictive measures against those involved in the violence against protesters and against all those associated with the ‘morality’ police, who are found complicit in or responsible for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini; considers, nevertheless, that the Iranian regime’s blatant disregard for the human dignity and democratic aspirations of its own citizens as well as its support to the Russian Federation necessitate further adjustments in the EU’s position towards Iran;












10.


Calls on the VP/HR and the Council to expand the EU sanctions list to all individuals and entities responsible for human rights violations and their family members, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi, and Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, as well as all foundations (‘bonyads’) linked to the IRGC, notably the Bonyad Mostazafan and the Bonyad Shahid va Omur-e Janbazan; calls also on the VP/HR, the Council and the Member States to consider sanctions against the 227 Members of the Iranian parliament who encouraged the use of death sentences; welcomes the ongoing preparation in the United Kingdom for the inclusion of the IRGC on the UK list of terrorist organisations; vigorously condemns the sanctions imposed by the Iranian authorities against German and French former politicians as well as against Members of the European Parliament; recalls that as long as European parliamentarians are sanctioned by the authorities, the inter-parliamentary dialogue should remain suspended;












11.


Calls on the Council and the Member States to add the IRGC and its subsidiary forces, including the paramilitary Basij militia and the Quds Force, to the EU terrorist list, and to ban any economic and financial activity involving businesses and commercial activities related to, owned, wholly or in part, by, or fronting for, the IRGC or IRGC-affiliated individuals, regardless of their country of operation, while avoiding any adverse consequences for the people of Iran as well as for EU humanitarian and development aid; calls for the EU and its Member States, in cooperation with like-minded partners, to urge any country in which the IRGC deploys military, economic, or informational operations to sever and outlaw ties with the IRGC; strongly condemns the IRGC’s unprovoked attack in the Erbil Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan and stresses that such indiscriminate attacks threaten innocent civilians and the region’s stability;












12.


Reiterates its strong condemnation of the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, for which the Islamic Republic, its highest leadership and its security forces, including the IRGC, hold sole responsibility; demands that the Iranian authorities respect ethnic and religious minorities and LGBTIQ+ people’s fundamental rights and freedoms; calls on the Iranian authorities to eliminate all forms of discrimination;












13.


Welcomes the establishment of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in resolution S35/1 of 24 November 2022 to investigate human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran and collect and analyse related evidence, and calls for its swift deployment; urges the authorities of the Islamic Republic to provide the fact-finding mission with full and unimpeded access to carry out its mandate and to refrain from harassing and intimidating those, or the family members of those, who cooperate with the fact-finding mission; calls for the EU and its Member States to fully support preparations for, and the implementation of, the fact-finding mission; urges the UN Human Rights Council to immediately refer the Iranian case to the UN Security Council in the absence of cooperation from the Islamic Republic;












14.


Further asks the Iranian authorities to allow visits of all Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, and particularly to ensure that the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran is allowed to enter the country;












15.


Demands that the Iranian regime release all human rights defenders; asks the Iranian regime to cease targeting all human rights defenders in Iran and to guarantee, in all circumstances, their ability to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free from all restrictions, including judicial harassment;












16.


Condemns the arrest of dozens of journalists and calls on the Iranian authorities to release them immediately; is deeply concerned about the arrest of more than 80 media workers, including Niloofar Hamedi, the journalist who first broke the news about Jina Mahsa Amini’s arrest and hospitalisation, and calls on the Iranian authorities to free them without delay; calls on the Islamic Republic to respect the freedom of expression and belief of everyone living in Iran; expresses its concern about the criminalisation of and violence against medical professionals by the security forces and calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide civilian medical personnel with all available assistance so they can provide impartial medical aid;












17.


Condemns in the strongest terms the systematic use of torture, including sexual violence as a weapon, in Iranian prisons and calls for the immediate cessation of all forms of torture and ill-treatment of all detainees; strongly condemns the Islamic Republic’s policy of forcing confessions using torture, intimidation, threats against family members or other forms of duress, and the use of these forced confessions to convict and sentence protesters; further condemns the practice of denying detainees access to phone calls and family visits; expresses grave concerns about detainees’ inability to access legal representation during interrogations; calls on the Iranian regime to treat prisoners with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings; reiterates its call on Iran to ratify without delay the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and to act in full accordance with the provisions contained therein;












18.


Urges the Iranian authorities to immediately release all EU nationals arrested and drop all charges against them; strongly condemns the sentencing of Belgian national and non-governmental organisation (NGO) staffer, Olivier Vandecasteele, to 40 years in prison, 74 lashes, and a fine amounting to EUR 1 million on fabricated espionage charges, and the continued imprisonment of, and death sentence issued against, Swedish national Ahmadreza Djalali, as well as the Islamic Republic’s cynical use of hostage diplomacy to force the release of convicted terrorist Asadollah Asadi; calls for the immediate and unconditional release and safe repatriation of Ahmadreza Djalali and Olivier Vandecasteele and the seven French citizens still detained in Iran including Cécile Kohler; condemns in the strongest terms the execution in Iran of Iranian-British national Alireza Akbari; expresses further concern about the public threats by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security against European embassies;












19.


Calls on Member States and NGOs to store, preserve and share any available evidence that may contribute to investigations, and to cooperate with and support the work of the International Criminal Court; urges the Iranian authorities to take steps to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; stresses that the continuous and grave human rights violations being committed by the Iranian regime against its own people jeopardise the negotiations on the JCPOA;












20.


Strongly condemns the Islamic Republic’s continued practice of shutting down internet and mobile networks in the context of protests in the country, which prevents communication and the free flow of information for Iranian citizens; underscores that such actions are a clear violation of international law; welcomes the various EU restrictive measures enacted under the sanctions mechanism in response to the repression, notably those targeting individuals and entities active in the area of information and communications technology and those responsible for disinformation; further welcomes the addition of the Iranian minister of information and communications technology to the EU sanctions list; calls on the Commission to consider, in compliance with the principle of necessity, allowing EU-based communications providers to offer safe tools to the citizens and residents of Iran;












21.


Calls on the Member States to commit to enabling Iranians to access a free internet in spite of the regime’s massive internet censorship; suggests that the necessary technical and financial resources could be provided through an EU fund;












22.


Urges all Member States to exercise universal jurisdiction over all Iranian officials reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law and other grave violations of human rights; urges those Member States whose domestic legislation does not yet provide for the enactment of the principle of universal jurisdiction to introduce such legislation without delay;












23.


Calls for the expansion of restrictive measures in the light of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to provide unmanned aerial vehicles and plans to provide surface-to-surface missiles to the Russian Federation for use against Ukraine; stresses that the Islamic Republic is contributing to war crimes in Ukraine, as these weapons are being used to target civilians and civilian infrastructure;












24.


Calls on the Commission and the Council to close all loopholes in the enforcement of existing sanctions, including financial loopholes, to ensure their strict implementation and to closely coordinate and cooperate with international partners for effective implementation of restrictive measures;












25.


Expresses deep concern over the structural transnational repression carried out by the authorities of the Islamic Republic, which includes espionage, assassinations, attempted bomb attacks, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and other control efforts, in particular by its embassies and the IRGC, against the Iranian diaspora living in the EU, which stifles the freedom of speech and of expression of EU citizens and residents, endangers their safety, and amounts to malign interference; calls on the EU and the Member States to expand protections for the Iranian diaspora against the Islamic Republic’s transnational repression; calls on the EEAS and the Member States to find avenues for providing technical and capacity support to those helping Iranian civil society while ensuring Iranian ownership of these activities;












26.


Condemns the recent attacks by Iranian officials against the newspaper Charlie Hebdo and welcomes the launch of the investigation into the cyberattack on the newspaper following the publication of satirical cartoons;












27.


Calls for the EU, including the VP/HR, to continue raising human rights concerns with the Iranian authorities in bilateral and multilateral forums and to use all planned engagements with the Iranian authorities for that purpose, in particular in the context of the EU-Iran High Level Political Dialogue; reaffirms that respect for human rights is a core component in the development of EU-Iran relations;












28.


Reiterates its call on all Member States to jointly make public statements and undertake diplomatic initiatives to monitor unfair trials and visit prisons where EU hostages in Iran, human rights defenders and other prisoners of conscience are being detained; encourages stronger coordination among the EU embassies accredited in Tehran; urges all Member States with a diplomatic presence in Tehran to use the mechanisms provided for in the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders to support and provide assistance to the individuals sentenced to death and to those unlawfully condemned and arrested; urges the Member States to ensure that prisoners are able to receive visitors and to carefully monitor their detention conditions;












29.


Urges the Iranian authorities to grant independent observers from Member States’ embassies in Iran access to all trials connected to the protests; asks the Member States to monitor all trials connected with the protests, with particular attention to capital trials, and to publicly denounce their flaws;












30.


Calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States, in cooperation with like-minded partners, to extend and enhance tangible support for the democratic aspirations of the people of Iran, notably by enhancing support for independent human rights and civil society organisations, as well as independent media platforms, and by supporting the efforts of like-minded partners to maintain internet connectivity in Iran; encourages the democratic opposition of Iran to pursue greater unity where possible, on the basis of shared values and with the involvement of exiled and diaspora Iranians, in order to facilitate further support by the international community; urges the EU and its Member States to increase their strategic communications directed towards the Iranian people, notably by enhancing the mandate of the EEAS StratCom Task Force South to include the Islamic Republic and by substantially increasing its funding and visibility;












31.


Calls for the EU and its Member States to facilitate the issuance of visas to any person who has a well-founded fear of persecution for peacefully exercising his or her right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in connection with the demonstrations in Iran; calls on the EEAS to reach out to Iran’s immediate neighbours to ensure that border crossings remain open to activists fleeing Iran and to ensure that these individuals can safely apply for asylum in Europe from these countries;












32.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.






(1)  Texts adopted, P9_TA(2022)0352.

(2)  OJ C 342, 6.9.2022, p. 286.

(3)  Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2022/2433 of 12 December 2022 implementing Decision 2011/235/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Iran (OJ L 318 I, 12.12.2022, p. 36).

(4)  OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 93.

(5)  OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 70.

(6)  OJ L 88, 31.3.2017, p. 6.