JAKARTA - The European Union on Monday imposed additional sanctions on Iran, targeting 29 individuals and three organizations in response to what it condemned as Tehran's widespread use of force against peaceful protesters.
"We support the Iranian people and support their right to protest peacefully and voice their demands and views freely," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The protests, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini (22) on September 16 in police custody of morality, marked one of the boldest challenges against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
So far, 341 demonstrators have died in riots and more than 15,800 have been detained, according to the HRANA activist news agency.
Among those subject to travel bans and asset freezes were four members of the squad that arrested Amini, a top member of the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, according to a European Union statement.
The sanctions are meant "to send a clear message to those who think they can suppress, intimidate and kill their own people for no consequences," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters when she arrived for a meeting with her European Union counterparts in Brussels, Belgium.
"They can't. The world, Europe is watching," he added.
In the first round of sanctions in October, the EU imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 15 Iranian individuals and institutions linked to Amini's death and a crackdown on protests.
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