The current unrest began on September 16, following 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s suspicious death while in the custody of the Gasht-e Ershad -- so-called morality police -- after having been arrested for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code.
The protests, which initially focused on women’s rights, have grown into the biggest show of opposition to Iran’s authorities in years, with many calling for the end of more than four decades of Islamic clerical rule.
Germany, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic have submitted 16 proposals for new EU sanctions against Iran for its clampdown on protests.
“Those who beat up women and girls on the street, who abduct, arbitrarily imprison and condemn to death people who want nothing other than to live free -- they stand on the wrong side of history,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“To those people in Iran we say: we stand by you, and will continue to do so,” Baerbock added.
EU foreign ministers are to decide on the proposed sanctions at their meeting on October 17, with no resistance expected from the bloc members.
Last week, United States President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Iran in response to the regime’s crackdown.
