Iran to be sanctioned again by the European Union

The European Union is about to adopt a resolution imposing sanctions against several Iranian personalities for human rights violations. The Persian country has a long history of sanctions, the last one imposed in 2013, for violating human rights after infringing the right to freedom of expression and committing acts of torture. 

The Islamic Republic is once again being targeted for human rights violations as well as internal repression. On 12 April 2011, the European Council decreed a series of restrictive measures targeting individuals and entities for systematic violation of civil rights, freedom of expression and fundamental rights. 

A document provided by Amnesty International states that there is widespread use of torture and other injuries by police and intelligence services as well as prison officials against men, women and children in Iran.

According to the UN, more than 600 people were executed in 2011 alone without due process of law. Similarly, in 2013, representatives of the United Nations denounced the large increase in complaints of human rights violations and the increase in executions.

These actions would be coupled with the violent persecution of religious minorities in the country, including Christians, Gonabadi dervishes, Jews, and Sunni and Sufi Muslims. 

The sanctions enacted by the EU were aimed at banning economic transactions between European banks and Iranian banks along with the freezing of economic assets. In addition, sanctions on the export of goods that could be used for internal repression were also approved. 

According to the media outlet Al-Arabiya, the sanctions planned for this occasion would include the same freezing of assets, as well as a travel ban on several personalities, whose names will be made public when the sanctions are officially issued.
In this context, Joe Biden's new government assured that the United States would return to the nuclear agreement signed by

Tehran in 2015. This agreement was approved in order for the Persian country to limit its nuclear arms race by adjusting to the commitments approved in the agreement in exchange for eliminating the sanctions imposed on the Iranian state. 

According to the agreement, Iran was to reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98% and not to exceed 3.67% enrichment. Likewise, a mechanism was established to monitor possible non-compliance through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Former President Donald Trump abandoned the agreement in 2018 after accusing the Ayatollahs' regime of failing to comply with the resolution.

In this line and in accordance with re-establishing diplomatic relations with the US, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif has warned that the first step the United States has to take is to "unconditionally and effectively lift all sanctions imposed". On his official Twitter account he explained that when sanctions are lifted, "we will then immediately reverse all remedial measures. Simple," Zarif said on Twitter.