Iran warns EU states against imposing sanctions over crackdown on protests: Report

Iran has privately warned the European Union against imposing sanctions on Tehran over its violent crackdown on anti-government protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death, Politico reported on Thursday.

Iran has sent two separate letters – one to a group of EU ambassadors and another to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell – according to Politico.

“If Europe misses taking the nuances of the current situation into consideration, the ramification will be grave and the bilateral relations may not survive it,” the letter to the EU ambassadors warned.

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Imposing sanctions on Tehran will “bear a detrimental impact on Iran-Europe relations,” the letter said.

EU capitals have vowed to move ahead regardless of any Iranian pressure, according to Politico.

Iran’s warnings are a “lost cause” since there is “very strong unity and momentum,” Politico cited a senior European diplomat as saying.

EU countries have agreed sanctions on Iran and foreign ministers are to adopt them on October 17, AFP reported.

Four EU diplomats told AFP that political agreement was reached Wednesday on the sanctions and that the foreign ministers’ meeting to be held in Luxembourg next Monday was to officialize them.

The latest European sanctions will land at a delicate moment, given that the EU plays a coordinating role in talks aimed at reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Those talks are currently in an impasse, Borrell has said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the US said that reviving the 2015 deal is “not our focus right now,” adding that Tehran had shown little interest in reviving the pact and that Washington was concentrating on how to support Iranian protesters.

Protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police on September 16 have turned into one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.

More than 200 people, including 23 children, have been killed in the protests, Oslo-based rights group Iran Human Rights said on Wednesday.

With agencies

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