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SPD politician Roth during a speech in the Bundestag (2022)
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Political Moments / IMAGO
The diplomatic exchange of blows between the regime in Tehran and the West continues to escalate.
One day after the EU sanctions against Iran were tightened, the regime there has now imposed punitive measures against more than 30 companies and individuals from the European Union.
According to a list published by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on its website on Tuesday, the sanctions will affect, among others, members of the Bundestag Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU), Renata Alt (FDP) and Michael Roth (SPD).
You had recently been critical of the ongoing, violent crackdown on protests against the country's leadership.
According to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, those affected by the sanctions are accused of "supporting terrorism, interfering in the country's internal affairs and inciting violence and unrest in Iran".
Several armaments companies and members of the EU Parliament and national parliaments are also on the sanctions list.
They were all subject to asset and entry bans.
A total of 23 people and 13 organizations are on the sanctions list.
EU imposed property and entry bans
On Monday, the EU foreign ministers tightened their sanctions against Tehran because of the ongoing violence against demonstrators in Iran.
They placed 32 other Iranian leaders and two organizations with property and entry bans.
The EU holds those affected responsible, among other things, for the suppression of freedom of expression and the recent series of executions in Iran.
For months there have been mass demonstrations in Iran, which were originally triggered by the death of 22-year-old Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini.
She died after being arrested by the vice squad for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code.
Hundreds of people were killed and thousands arrested during the protests.
Merz wants to have the Iranian ambassador expelled
Human rights activists have counted a total of 55 executions in Iran since the beginning of the year, four of them in connection with the anti-government protests since September.
More executions could follow: On Tuesday, the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death on charges of terror, an Austrian in another trial for espionage to seven and a half years in prison.
Opposition leader and CDU boss Friedrich Merz (CDU) sharply criticized the verdict against Sharmahd in a guest commentary in the "Bild" newspaper.
"This judgment must not remain without consequences," wrote Merz.
"The federal government, Europe, the USA and the United Nations must put Iran in its place - with all the means available to the free world," demanded Merz.
"This also includes expelling the Iranian ambassador in Berlin from the country."
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had previously described the verdict against Sharmahd as "absolutely unacceptable" and announced a "clear reaction".
Born in Tehran, Sharmahd grew up in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 2003.
He is a member of the opposition group Tondar (English: Thunder), also known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran.
She rejects the political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran and supports the reintroduction of the monarchy in the country.
Sharmahd in custody since 2020
The regime in Tehran announced Sharmahd's arrest in August 2020.
According to his family, the 67-year-old German-Iranian, who last lived in the United States, was kidnapped by the Iranian secret service during a stopover in Dubai and taken to Iran.
His trial began in February 2022.
fek/AFP
