Brussels, 24 April 2023
The Council decided today to impose restrictive measures on eight additional individuals and one entity responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.
The Council is sanctioning Ariantel, an Iranian mobile service provider, which contributed to the telecommunications surveillance architecture mapped out by the Iranian government to quash dissent and critical voices in Iran.
New listings also include lawmakers in the Iranian Parliament, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the IRCG Cooperative Foundation, which is the body responsible for managing the IRGC’s investments and in that framework responsible for funnelling money into the regime’s brutal repression.
Restrictive measures now apply to a total of 211 individuals and 35 entities. They consist of an asset freeze, a travel ban to the EU and a prohibition to make funds or economic resources available to those listed. A ban on exports to Iran of equipment which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications is also in place.
The European Union and its member states urge the Iranian authorities to stop any form of violent crackdown against peaceful protests, cease their resort to arbitrary detentions as a means of silencing critical voices, and release all those unjustly detained.
The EU calls on Iran 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 EU also calls upon Iran to end the distressing practice of detaining foreign civilians with a view to making political gains.
Today’s package of listings complements the previous six packages adopted by the Council on 17 October, 14 November, and 12 December 2022, 23 January, 20 February and 20 March 2023.
The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the EU.
- Council implementing regulation and implementing decision concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Iran (including the list of sanctioned individuals and entities)
- Human rights violations in Iran: EU sanctions additional eight individuals and one entity (press release, 20 March 2023)
- Iran: Council approves conclusions (press release, 12 December 2022)
Source – EU Council