EU agrees new Iran sanctions over protest crackdown

Iranian officials and organisations involved in suppressing the country's recent protests are now facing new EU sanctions.

Foreign ministers from the 27 European Union member states agreed on November 14 to introduce a new batch of sanctions against Iran following a violent crackdown on anti-government protests that have rocked the country for weeks, DW reports.

The sanctions will target 32 individuals and organisations, including the powerful Revolution Guard, responsible for the response by security forces that has left hundreds dead and thousands more detained.

Those affected will be barred from entering the EU and will have any assets in the bloc frozen.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed the new packet of sanctions, adding that Germany had succeeded in getting the issue on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council.

"Nobody in Tehran, Mashhad or Isfahan can be allowed to believe that they can get away with committing crimes without consequence," Baerbock wrote on Twitter.

"Europe and the world are watching," she added.

Despite Tehran's violent attempts to quell the protests that broke out following the death in detention of a young Kurdish woman who was arrested in mid-September for allegedly breaking Iran's strict dress code, demonstrations, often led by women, have continued to take place across the country.

The EU agreed on the first round of sanctions in October that targeted the notorious morality police who were responsible for the detention of the 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini, as well as targeting members of the Basiji security forces who are believed to have killed several protesters.

The bloc has also separately sanctioned Iran for its support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The UN Human Rights Council also announced on November 14 that it would hold a special session on November 24 to look into "the deteriorating human rights situation" in Iran.