BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 24. The Council of the
European Union has imposed sanctions on six additional individuals
over what it described as serious human rights violations in
Iran.
According to the Council's press service, the new listings
include five judges of Iran's Revolutionary Courts, who are accused
of issuing sentences against political activists, dissidents and
members of religious minorities. The EU said some of the cases were
linked to the authorities' response to the 2022 "Woman, Life,
Freedom" protests.
"In addition, the Council is targeting Nima Salehi an Iranian
hacker and computer engineer, who is the founder and a leading
figure within the ‘Ashiyane’ cyber group. Ashiyane Digital Security
cooperates closely with the EU-listed Cyber Police (FATA) and the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is responsible for
intensive cyber-attacks on both domestic opponents and reformists
and foreign institutions, thereby assisting the regime’s crackdown
against the opposition," the statement said.
With the latest additions, the EU's Iran human rights sanctions
regime now applies to 269 individuals and 53 entities. Those listed
are subject to an asset freeze in the European Union and a ban on
making funds or economic resources available to them. They are also
prohibited from entering or transiting through EU member
states.
"They consist of an asset freeze, travel bans to the EU, and a
prohibition to make funds or economic resources available to those
listed. A ban on exports to Iran of equipment that might be used
for internal repression, including equipment for monitoring
telecommunications, is also in place," the Council added.
The legal acts were published in the Official Journal of the
European Union. The EU's sanctions regime targeting human rights
violations in Iran was introduced in 2011 and is currently extended
until April 2027.
