Iran Prepares Sanctions For Reply Against The European Union And Britain, Target Human Rights Violators

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Leakhi. (Twitter/Iran Foreign Ministry)

JAKARTA - Iran announced on Tuesday it would respond to EU and UK sanctions, vowing to target individuals and entities in the West that "violating human rights".

Tehran said it was "strongly condemning" the new sanctions imposed by Brussels and London in response to regime violence against protesters. Iran warned retaliatory measures would soon follow.

"The Islamic Republic will soon announce a list of new sanctions against human rights violators of the European Union and Britain," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Miti said in a statement.

"The actions of the European Union and the British regime are a sign of their mental inability to truly understand the reality of Iran," the Iranian news agency IMNA said.

"They oppose the authority of the Islamic Republic," he added.

As previously reported, the European Union agreed to impose sanctions on more than 35 Iranian officials and organizations in a meeting in Brussels, Belgium on Monday, blaming them for "brutal" actions against unrest and other human rights abuses.

The list includes four commanders and 12 influential Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) units, which many observers say hold real power within Iran.

Brussels also highlighted the supply of Iranian-made drones to Russia, which Moscow has used to curb Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Interestingly, the European Union has not 'confused' the European Parliament's desire to include the IRGC on the terrorist list.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the court's decision with concrete legal condemnation should first be imposed in member states, before the European Union itself can implement such a stipulation.

"That is something that cannot be decided without a court... a decision first. You cannot say, I consider you a terrorist because I don't like you," Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of Brussels talks.

The IRGC was founded shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shia clerical system. It has about 125,000 strong military units with the army, sea, and air forces and leads Basij religious militias frequently used in crackdowns.

Separately, the US and Britain also issued new sanctions against Iran, reflecting the deteriorating Western relations with Tehran.

The sanctions are the latest response to Iran's deadly act of unrest, sparked by the death of Iranian Kurdish young woman Mahsa Amini in a moral police custody in September last year.

Four months after the start of the anti-government unrest, the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency said 516 protesters had died, including 70 children. The latest figure from the group said the number of people arrested was more than 19,200, among them 687 students.

The European Union has imposed asset freezes, visa bans and bans on accepting EU funds on more than 60 Iranian officials and entities for suppression of protesters since September 16.

On December 12, Iran sanctioned the British intelligence service MI5, British military officials, and German political figures in retaliation for previous sanctions.