The European Council announced on Monday it has imposed sanctions on 32 individuals and two entities from Iran linked to what the institution perceives as human rights violations in that country.
Among those affected are Iranian Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili and Education Minister Yousef Noori, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Ramezan Sharif, and various members of the police and judiciary.
"The European Union and its member states urge the Iranian authorities to stop the violent crackdown against peaceful protests, cease their resort to arbitrary detentions as a means of silencing critical voices and release all those unjustly detained ... [and] to end the practice of imposing and carrying out death sentences against protesters, reverse the death penalty sentences pronounced, as well as provide due process to all detainees," the council's statement read.
