Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced plans to impose sanctions against Iran over its crackdown on protests.
He criticised the Iranian government for the brutal treatment of dissenters and pointed out that Germany stands “shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian people,” according to The Guardian reporting on Saturday.
In his weekly video address on Saturday, Scholz reminded that Iran’s morality police detained Mahsa Amini, who died in custody, and stressed that the issue is not “merely a question of dress codes.”
“We can barely begin to imagine how much courage this takes,” he noted commenting on protests in Iran and pointed to “more than 300 killed, dozens of death sentences and more than 14,000 arrests.”
Scholz stressed that people who protest against the oppressive regime “risk their lives and often also the lives of their loved ones – and face the prospect of torture and decades in prison.”
He reminded that hundreds of thousands of people with Iranian heritage live in Germany and stressed that they are “appalled and disgusted by what the mullah regime is doing to the demonstrators.”
Scholz reiterated that Germany plans to impose additional sanctions against Iran and concluded that EU foreign ministers are to discuss sanctions this week.
Iran objects to pushback
Annalena Baerbock, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, noted on Friday that her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian complained that Germany’s stance was interventionist and warned there would be consequences.
Earlier this month, Baerbock called on the German parliament to impose additional sanctions over the crackdown.
Scholz commented on Amir-Abdollahian’s warning in his address on Saturday, stressing “what kind of government does it make you if you shoot at your own citizens… those who act in such a way must expect us to push back.”
Masih Alinejad, Iranian human rights activist who lives in exile in the US, attended a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, urging him to take action against Tehran.
She pointed out that Macron took a principled stance and concluded “it’s time to stand on the right side of history and for universal values.”
Macron noted after the meeting that he admires and respects the people of Iran for “the revolution they are leading.”
