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Iran describes criticism of the EU as a pretext

2022-10-15T07:53:43.027Z


The Iranian regime beats down protests by its own people, many people have been killed. The foreign minister calls the police operations legitimate.


Enlarge image

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at a press conference in Tehran in December 2021

Photo: ATTA KENARE / AFP

Iran has criticized the European Union for its stance on the ongoing protests in the country.

"Unrest, arson and terrorist operations no longer have anything to do with peaceful protests," said Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, according to the Foreign Ministry's website.

The Iranian chief diplomat therefore called the police operations against the protests absolutely legitimate.

The EU should not use these incidents as an excuse to put pressure on Iran, he warned.

New sanctions could come soon

According to media reports, the EU plans to impose sanctions on Iran on Monday for suppressing the protests.

Tehran has warned the EU against an "adequate reaction" in this case, and there is even talk of breaking off diplomatic relations and expelling the EU ambassadors.

In this case, observers expect an end to the EU efforts to save the Vienna nuclear agreement of 2015. Then the Iran sanctions would also be off the table, because of which the actually oil-rich country has been in an acute economic crisis for almost four years.

After the protests and violent clashes between police and demonstrators over the past four weeks, this crisis has worsened.

Biden: "Women should be able to wear whatever they want"

US President Joe Biden has also called on the Iranian leadership not to use violence against the protests in the country.

"Iran must end violence against its own citizens who are simply exercising their basic rights," Biden said at a performance in the city of Irvine, California.

Women and men should have the right to freedom of expression and association, Biden said.

And women “should—for God's sake—be able to wear whatever they want,” he said.

Foreign Minister: Iran Anchor of Stability and Security

Amir-Abdollahian claimed that the country's leadership enjoys the support of the people and is therefore "not a country of coups d'état but an anchor of stability and security".

Tehran sees the nationwide protests as being controlled by the country's "foreign enemies".

In Iran, people have been taking to the streets for weeks.

The protests were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in mid-September.

The moral police had arrested her because of her allegedly "un-Islamic outfit".

What happened to Amini after that is unclear.

The woman fell into a coma and died in a hospital on September 16.

Critics accuse the morality police of using violence;

the police deny it.

Since the woman's death, thousands have been demonstrating across the country against the government's repressive course and the headscarf requirement.

According to unconfirmed reports, the protests have so far killed more than 200 people, both demonstrators and police and security forces.

In addition, there were a large number of injuries and thousands of arrests, allegedly among them minors as well as journalists and photographers.

Iran has so far neither confirmed nor denied these figures.


svs/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-10-15

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