عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Germany Suspends Measures to Promote Business with Iran

A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the country's morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, Türkiye, on September 20, 2022. (AFP)
A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the country's morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, Türkiye, on September 20, 2022. (AFP)
TT
TT

Germany Suspends Measures to Promote Business with Iran

A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the country's morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, Türkiye, on September 20, 2022. (AFP)
A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the country's morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul, Türkiye, on September 20, 2022. (AFP)

Germany's government is suspending state measures designed to foster business with Iran due to the repression of nationwide protests in Iran, the economy ministry said on Friday.

The suspension will affect export credits and investment guarantees as well as Germany's manager training and trade fair programs in Iran, the ministry said.

German-Iranian trade totaled $1.87 billion in 2021, according to Reuters.

The death in custody of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, after her arrest by the morality police for violating Iran's dress code, unleashed years of pent-up grievances in the country over issues ranging from tightening social and political controls to economic misery and discrimination against ethnic minorities.

Moreover, Luxembourg has expressed concern to Iran about one of its residents feared to have been detained and facing execution there, the government said on Friday.

Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday to address the situation, the statement said.

Luxembourg did not name the detainee but described him as "a resident of Luxembourg of Iranian origin who, according to available information, may have been arrested and condemned to capital punishment."

Tehran has launched a crackdown on a wave of anti-government demonstrations and announced at least 11 death sentences in connection with the protests.

It was not immediately clear whether the Luxembourg resident was among those. But Asselborn used his call "to plead in favor of the Iranian demonstrators risking their lives to win respect for their fundamental rights, and in particular for those who have been sentenced to death."

The statement did not report the Iranian minister's response.

In a related context, the United States has announced another round of sanctions against Iranian officers and the public prosecutor involved in the government’s crackdown on protesters.

The US Department of the Treasury said on Twitter that it was slapping sanctions on Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri for issuing “a directive to courts to act decisively and issue harsh sentences to many of those arrested during the ongoing protests.”

The Imen Sanat Zaman Fara company was also designated by the US because it manufactures equipment used by Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF).

Most Viewed

 
 
World

US Sanctions 16 Allies of Venezuela's President over Accusations of Obstructing Election

A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R
A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R
TT
TT

US Sanctions 16 Allies of Venezuela's President over Accusations of Obstructing Election

A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R
A man holds a sign with the image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and text that reads: 'Maduro, close the (Centro Penitenciario El Helicoide)' during a protest by the families of political prisoners in Venezuela demanding their release; in Caracas, Venezuela, 11 September 2024. EPA/RONALD PENA R

The US government on Thursday responded to Venezuela’s disputed July presidential election by imposing sanctions against 16 allies of President Nicolás Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses.

Those targeted by the Treasury Department include the head of the country’s high court, leaders of state security forces and prosecutors. The move came days after the departure into exile of Edmundo González Urrutia, the former diplomat who represented the main opposition parties and claimed to have won the July 28 presidential election by a wide margin.

Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but unlike previous presidential elections, they never released detailed vote tallies to back up their claim arguing that the National Electoral Council’s website was hacked. To the surprise of supporters and opponents, González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado shortly afterward announced not only that their campaign had obtained vote tallies from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines used in the election but also that they had published them online to show the world that Maduro had lost.

Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s high court, stacked with ruling party loyalists, to audit the results. The court reaffirmed his victory.

Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which observed the election at the invitation of Maduro’s government, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. The UN experts stopped short of validating the opposition’s claim to victory but said the faction’s voting records published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.
“Rather than respecting the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box, Maduro and his representatives have falsely claimed victory while repressing and intimidating the democratic opposition in an illegitimate attempt to cling to power by force,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

According to The Associated Press, the State Department said it is placing new visa restrictions on Maduro allies who are accused of impeding the vote and repressing Venezuelans. The department did not name those individuals.

The potential effect of the individual sanctions and visa restrictions announced Thursday is unclear. Previously punished Maduro loyalists still play key roles in Venezuela's government, including as vice president, attorney general and defense minister.

Venezuela’s government released a statement that characterized the latest set of sanctions as a “rude act that seeks to ingratiate itself with a political class that has resorted to fascist and violent practices to overthrow, without success,” Maduro.