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Germany: EU Seeking to Adopt New Iran Sanctions

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. AFP
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. AFP
    Asharq A-Awsat
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Germany: EU Seeking to Adopt New Iran Sanctions

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. AFP
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. AFP

The European Union will seek to adopt new sanctions against Iran next week over Tehran's deadly crackdown on protests, Germany's foreign minister said Wednesday.

"We are working flat out on the next package of sanctions," Annalena Baerbock said on Twitter. "We want to adopt it next week."

"We won't let up," she added. "We stand with the men and women of Iran, not only today, but as long as it is necessary."

EU foreign ministers are due to meet in Brussels on Monday.

The bloc had already imposed sanctions in mid-October against Iran's "morality police" and 11 officials including the telecommunications minister.

Iran has been rocked by demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, following her arrest in Tehran for allegedly flouting the country's strict hijab dress rules for women.

The crackdown on nationwide protests since her death has killed at least 304 people, including 41 children and 24 women, says the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR).

Meanwhile, the German parliament adopted on Wednesday recommendations made by the three ruling parties, urging the German government to intensify pressure on the Iranian regime over its brutal repression of demonstrators.

The recommendations included a call on the government to close the “Hamburg Islamic Center” classified in Germany as an arm of Iran and as directly receiving instructions from the regime in Tehran.

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Iran’s Leadership Is in Its ‘Final Days and Weeks’, Germany’s Merz Says

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
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Iran’s Leadership Is in Its ‘Final Days and Weeks’, Germany’s Merz Says

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday he assumes Iran's leadership is in its "final days and weeks" as it ​faces widespread protests.

Demonstrations in Iran have evolved from complaints about dire economic hardships to calls for the fall of the clerical establishment in the country.

"I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this ‌regime," Merz said ‌during a trip ‌to ⁠India, questioning ​the Iranian ‌leadership's legitimacy.

"When a regime can only maintain power through violence, then it is effectively at its end. The population is now rising up against this regime."

Merz said Germany was in close contact with the United States ⁠and fellow European governments on the situation in ‌Iran, and urged Tehran to end ‍its deadly crackdown ‍on protesters.

He did not comment on ‍Germany's trade ties with Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff ​rate of 25% on trade with the United States.

Germany maintains limited trade ⁠relations with Iran despite significant restrictions, making Berlin Tehran's most important trading partner in the European Union.

German exports to Iran fell 25% to just under 871 million euros ($1.02 billion) in the first 11 months of 2025, representing less than 0.1% of total German exports, according to federal statistics office data seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

World

Finland Summons Iran Envoy Over Deadly Protests

A Finnish flag flies over the City Hall in Helsinki, Finland, February 10, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Little/File photo
A Finnish flag flies over the City Hall in Helsinki, Finland, February 10, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Little/File photo
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Finland Summons Iran Envoy Over Deadly Protests

A Finnish flag flies over the City Hall in Helsinki, Finland, February 10, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Little/File photo
A Finnish flag flies over the City Hall in Helsinki, Finland, February 10, 2024. REUTERS/Tom Little/File photo

Finland's foreign minister said Tuesday that she would summon Iran's ambassador, after Tehran's nationwide shutdown of the internet and violent crackdown on protests.

"Iran's regime has shut down the internet to be able to kill and oppress in silence," Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen wrote on X.

"This will not be tolerated. We stand with the people of Iran — women and men alike", she said, adding that she would "summon the Iranian ambassador this morning."

Valtonen also said the Nordic country was also "exploring measures to help restore freedom to the Iranian people" together with the EU.

Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Monday that the violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people.

A nationwide shutdown of the internet by authorities in Iran, which activists fear is aimed at masking the scale of a crackdown, has now lasted over 108 hours, a monitor said on Tuesday.

World

North Korea's Kim Revamps Private Security Detail, South Says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gestures as he visits a greenhouse farm construction site along the country's border with China, in North Korea, January 2, 2026, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gestures as he visits a greenhouse farm construction site along the country's border with China, in North Korea, January 2, 2026, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
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North Korea's Kim Revamps Private Security Detail, South Says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gestures as he visits a greenhouse farm construction site along the country's border with China, in North Korea, January 2, 2026, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gestures as he visits a greenhouse farm construction site along the country's border with China, in North Korea, January 2, 2026, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has replaced three top officials in charge of his personal security, Seoul said Tuesday, a sign the despot may increasingly fear assassination plots.

Seoul's Unification Ministry -- responsible for managing relations with Pyongyang -- said three state agencies handling Kim's security had new bosses, AFP said.

The reshuffle was spotted during a military parade in October, the ministry said.

The changes at the Bodyguard Command in particular, which handles security measures against drone or electronic attacks, could be linked to Kim's decision to send troops to aid Russia's war in Ukraine, an expert said.

"Change in the pattern of Kim's security detail was detected from October 2024, when he deployed North Korean troops to Russia," Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.

"He could have judged there could be an assassination attempt against him involving Ukrainians amid heightened international spotlight due to the deployment," he added.

Seoul's spy agency previously said Kim had upgraded the level of security around him due to the risk of attempts on his life.

Kim's office sought to obtain equipment capable of jamming communications and drone detection gear in response, the agency said.

In the past year, Kim has often been seen accompanied by his daughter Ju Ae on official duties including the inspection of a nuclear-powered submarine.

Analysts say she is likely next in line to run the nuclear-armed dictatorship.

This month's capture by the United States of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has also likely heightened security fears in Pyongyang, analysts say.

The operation represents a nightmare scenario for North Korea's leadership, which has long feared a so-called "decapitation strike" of that kind and accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power.