EU Mulling New Sanctions On Iran Over Mahsa Amini, Protests Crackdown
The European Parliament on Thursday called on the European Union for additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its bloody clampdown of protests.
The European Parliament on Thursday called on the European Union for additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its bloody clampdown of protests.
The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution that condemns the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's morality police in September and asked for EU sanctions against her killers and those involved in quashing ensuing street protests.
The resolution calls for an "impartial and independent" probe into Mahsa's ill-treatment and killing, and "strongly condemns widespread and disproportionate use of force by Iranian security forces against the crowds which has so far resulted in many casualties." Parliament further called on the United Nations, and in particular its Human Rights Council, to initiate an investigation into recent events in Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Prague on Thursday that EU foreign ministers will discuss further sanctions on Iran at their next meeting. The EU foreign ministers are set to convene on October 17.
In a tweet, Borrell said he spoke with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, asking for accountability for the death of Amini. He added that he also called on Tehran “to stop violence against demonstrators and to release those detained.” The EU foreign policy chief said he also urged Iran to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog.
Borrell underlined that the “right to protest and free flow of information must be allowed," adding that “EU is considering all options.”
A German foreign ministry source said October 3, that Germany, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic have submitted 16 proposals for new measures by the European Union against Iran. "We are now working flat out to implement these proposals," the source added.
Some also used his account to argue that the killings of young women like Mahsa Amini, who was fatally injured in “morality police” custody, and Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old girl who was taken during the protests in Tehran and found dead ten days later with evidence of torture, are entirely possible at the hands of brutal security forces.
Javad Moguei, a hardliner filmmaker whose career could be summarized as trumpeting the Islamic Republic's ideology, wrote about what happened to him in a long Instagram post which has disappeared from his page, however, screenshots of his post, as well as a copy of it posted on Telegram on the account of the reformist Saham News, are still available on social media.
Moguei starts his story with his visit to the Enghelab (Revolution) Square where he went with his friends to buy some books. "At the Revolution Square the number of Basij militia, special riot troops, the police and the IRGC's plainclothes officers were several times more than the people who were walking on the sidewalks in the busy roundabout," Mogui remembered.
While shopping for books, his friend Ali told him how the Basij was beating and sexually insulting young girls in the streets during the past 10 days. His other friend Mehdi told him that this is the Basij's usual practice during every round of unrest.
"At the Quds intersection [about half a mile from the square] I head a girl screaming. A police officer threw him in an open gutter in the street and several Basij members started to beat the girl who weighed less than 60 Kilograms. I rushed to the scene and shouted at them: Don't beat her! She will die," Moguei remembered, adding, "They told me it was none of my business. And then they shot me in the hand and chest with shotgun [birdshots], and I fell on the ground."
Moguei added: "A motorcyclist offered to take me out of the scene and warned that the forces may take me away. I told a Basij militiaman once again not to beat the girl as she might die. Then several militia members attacked me calling me mother f**ker. I kicked him and then all of them attacked me. There were about 10 of them. Then they threw me into a minibus. Several other detainees were also on board. Then an older man came in and asked my name and I said my name."
The man must have known Moguei and his brother who is a top Basij commander in Karaj near Tehran. "He blindfolded me and told me that I should have not intervened. When they inspected my phone and saw the picture of a well-known IRGC martyr on my screen saver, they stopped what they were doing. They took me off the minibus and took me on board another van. After a while I realized that the van was circling around the area. I saw from beneath the blindfold that they were going through the same streets again and again. I had a headache as they had hit my head on the wall or kicked it," Mogui remembered.
"Then the van stopped at the Revolution Square and a man with a goatee came on board. He asked me about what had happened. I told him about the Basij who insulted my mother. He didn't quite believe me. I asked him whether he was from the IRGC or the Police? He did not answer." The man with the goatee probably recognized Moguei as a well-known hardliner who frequented Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's headquarters. "He offered me water and even dinner. I refused to accept. I sat there blindfolded for several minutes while he apologized and handed back my phone."
A close relative of Khamenei's Chief of Staff Mohammadi Golpayegani called. Moguei's friends must have contacted Khamenei's office to tell them about his arrest. "I told him that I was still dizzy. The paramedics had arrived and the man with the goatee loudly prayed that nothing more serious had happened to me. He came to me and said my mother was like his mother and suggested that I file a complaint against the Basij the next day. It was only after the examination by paramedics that I found out I was shot 12 times. What if they hit me in the eye?"
"My friends joined me now and I insisted to go back to where I was shot to see the Basij. We went there and there were only the police. The Basij had already left. But I will go there every day hoping that I will see the attackers once again."
Moguei was lucky not to be shot in the head or in the eye. He was also lucky because the Basij did not kidnap him and took him with them to drop him at a remote place like Nika. He was luckier as his friends were well connected and could call the only place with real influence on thugs. Mogui just tasted a few drops of his favorite regime's own syrup. The rest of the population are extremely unlucky, left in the hands of those who are not accountable for what they do.
Speaking to Iran International, a source who is familiar with the prisoners’ circumstances said they have been strip searched, repeatedly interrogated, threatened by interrogators with losing their once daily two-minute phone calls to their families.
According to the source who did not want to be named for their safety, detainees have been kept indoors in unsanitary conditions throughout this time. The lights are never turned off in the shed even at night, and there are only three toilets and showers.
“Women have developed various infections as there are no facilities for washing and drying clothes and underwear … A few women found head lice in their hair,” the source said.
On Wednesday, a religious and public holiday, protesters took to the streets again in several cities including Tehran, Esfahan, and the religious city of Qom in the evening. The video from Isfahan shows people chanting “Women, Life, Liberty” while in another video a group of protesters are seen chanting “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. We stand together!” in Qom.
Authorities have not released any information on the number of detainees, those injured and killed in the protests that began nearly three weeks ago following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini who was arrested for not wearing her hijab “properly”.
A top Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander, Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, said Tuesday that detainees are around 15 years old on average while Tehran’s Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor Ali Salehi announced that 400 of those detained in the protests who “were repentant” have been released.
Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based rights organization, said Tuesday that at least 154 protesters, including nine children, have been killed by security forces during the protests.
Very little is known about most of the victims as families are pressured to remain silent if they want the bodies of their loved ones to be handed over to them.
Documentary filmmaker Javad Moguei, a hardliner and Khamenei devotee, has published a very grim account of the great violence against protesters by security forces’, IRGC’s Basij militia, and their plainclothes helpers on Instagram in the past three days.
Moguei said a police officer shot 14 plastic bullets all over his chest and arms in a matter of seconds only because he had objected to the beating of a young girl protesting on the street with no hijab.
“Don’t beat her, she will die, I cried. One of them told me to mind my own business and then my body went on fire. The officer was shooting at my chest and arms nonstop,” an apparently disillusioned Moguei who was subsequently thrown into a van and taken away wrote in one of his posts. He said he was released and officials apologized to him when he was recognized.