Germany: EU Seeking to Adopt New Iran Sanctions

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



US Attorneys General Urge a ‘Peaceful Transfer of Power’

Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gather near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (AFP)
Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gather near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (AFP)
TT

US Attorneys General Urge a ‘Peaceful Transfer of Power’

Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gather near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (AFP)
Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gather near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (AFP)

The attorneys general from 47 states and three US territories urged people to remain peaceful and to preemptively “condemn any acts of violence” related to the results of the presidential election.

The statement, released Tuesday, was signed by chief prosecutors from every US state except Indiana, Montana and Texas. Attorneys general from the District of Columbia and the US territories of American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and US Virgin Islands also signed.

“We call upon every American to vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process,” they wrote. “Violence has no place in the democratic process; we will exercise our authority to enforce the law against any illegal acts that threaten it.”

Fears of election violence persist nearly four years after Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump supporters rioted at the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the election certification.

Rather than condemning the violence during his campaign, Trump has celebrated the rioters, pledging to pardon them and featuring a recorded chorus of prisoners in jail for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack singing the national anthem.