By Oyintari Ben
In retaliation for similar actions taken in response to Tehran’s handling of months-long protests, Iran on Wednesday levied sanctions on 34 persons and organizations from the European Union and Britain.
The actions come two days after the EU and the UK imposed new sanctions on Iran, which has been rocked by unrest since Mahsa Amini’s killing on September 16th.
After being detained for allegedly violating the nation’s rigorous clothing code, Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, passed away while in detention.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that the sanctions include “prohibition of visa issuance and admission” to Iran as well as financial measures, such as the banning of accounts and transactions in Iran’s banking networks.
Tehran charges individuals and groups with “funding terrorism and terrorist groups, inciting and encouraging terrorist crimes and violence against the Iranian people.”
Additionally, it accuses them of “interfering with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s internal affairs and inciting violence and unrest.”
Sanctions include nine names from the United Kingdom and 25 names from the EU.
Among those targeted are European Friends of Israel (EFI), French radio station Radio J, 22 people, including six members of the European Parliament.
Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish-Danish right-wing fanatic who burnt a copy of the Koran in Sweden on Saturday and sparked outrage from the Muslim world, is also on the list.
On Tuesday, a day after the EU announced its fourth wave of sanctions against the nation since the protests began, placing 37 additional officials and entities on an asset freeze and travel ban blacklist, Iran had threatened to take retaliatory action.
The same day, Britain added five more Iranian officials to its list of sanctioned individuals, bringing the total to 50 people and organizations it believes are involved in quelling the protests.
Nine French nationals are included on the latest list, including philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Three staff members of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, which was previously listed as a target of Iranian sanctions for publishing cartoons of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are also targeted.
The ban also extends to British nationals Victoria Prentis, Patrick Sanders, the attorney general, and Liam Fox, the former defence secretary.
