Germany Planning New EU Sanctions Package Over Iran Protests

Germany and eight other EU member states plan to impose a new set of sanctions on individuals and organizations helping the Islamic Republic in its crackdown on dissent.

Accordingto a reportby German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday, a package containing 31 proposals was introduced in Brussels on November 2, targeting individuals and institutions in the security sector as well as companies responsible for suppression of the current wave of protests, ignited by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Measures include the freezing of assets and travel bans, the magazine said without disclosing its sources, adding that the new punitive measures have a good chance of being approved by EU foreign ministers at their upcoming meeting slated for November 14.

Ties between the Islamic Republic and the West are increasingly strained with Germany being among the first that started evacuating the families of the personnel of its embassy in Tehran and the teachers of German-run schools.

Germany's government on Thursday urged its citizens to leave the country or risk arbitrary arrest and long prison terms there.

Late in October, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that her country and the European Union were examining whether to classify Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization for its use of violence in the protests.

In mid-October, the EU sanctioned eleven Iranian individuals and four organizations for their role in the death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown on the ongoing protests. These are the first and so far only EU sanctions over the ongoing protests.