New EU sanctions to focus on Iran’s role in Ukraine war, human rights crackdown: Lithuania

BERLIN (AA) – Lithuania has said the next round of European Union sanctions on Iran will focus on Tehran’s support for the Russian war in Ukraine and the ongoing crackdown on protesters.

“On Monday, we will be suggesting additional listings that would be added to the Iranian sanctions list. From the European side, I think we agree on that,” Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told a joint news conference in Berlin with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

The Lithuanian diplomat was referring to the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels where new sanctions are likely to be imposed on Iran over alleged human rights violations amid continued mass protests over the past eight weeks.

The EU sanctions “would have two parts: For Iranian participation in war on Russia side against Ukraine but also for human rights abuses that are happening in the cities of Iran,” Landsbergis added.

Baerbock rejected her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian’s accusation of meddling in Iran’s domestic affairs.

“It is a European understanding that defending human rights is not an internal matter but a universal matter because universal human rights are inviolable and indivisible and we are going to underline this at the council meeting of the (EU) foreign ministers in Brussels,” she added.

She was alluding to a tweet by Amir Abdollahian complaining of what he called Berlin’s “provocative, interventionist and undiplomatic stances” towards Tehran.

He added that Germany could “choose engagement to address shared challenges – or confrontation,” adding that his country’s response would be “proportionate and firm.”

But Baerbock rebuffed him, saying: “Threats are no means of foreign policy and no instrument of international relations.”