The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on 80 Iranian officials involved in human rights violations, the International Campaign for Human Rights reports.
The list includes members of the police and paramilitary forces, prison officials, prosecutors, judges and other officials involved in “violating human rights and allegations of torture and death of dissidents.”
International human rights groups and Western countries have accused the Islamic Republic of “oppressing the opposition,” but Iran repeatedly denies the charges and accuses the West of interfering in its domestic affairs.
The anticipated EU sanctions would include freezing assets and banning travel to participating countries.
The state-backed newspaper Keyhan reported today that the EU list includes the names of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, Ahmad Khatami and Mohammad Yazdi, three hardline members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, as well as Hossein Shariatmadari, the director of the Keyhan daily newpaper.
Top commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij are also reportedly on the list, as well as the head of Iran’s judiciary, the ministers of the interior, science and welfare, and the prosecutors of Iran and Tehran.
Last week the U.S. announced sanctions against Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi and the head of the Basij paramilitary, Mohammad Reza Naqdi.
In September, eight other Iranian officials were put on the U.S. blacklist for their part in oppressing anti-government protesters.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has repeatedly called for governments around the world to blacklist Iranian officials involved in violating human rights, and urged in particular “the governments of Canada, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand, countries in which known Iranian human rights offenders are most likely to hold assets or travel, to also institute asset freezes and travel bans against them.”
