Eduardo González
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed this Thursday that Spain will support “all sanctions against Iran,” including the inclusion of the Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist groups.
“Spain, as it has done from the very beginning, demands respect for freedom of expression and the freedom of peaceful assembly for all Iranians who are bravely demonstrating,” Albares declared upon arriving at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (EAC), held this Thursday, January 29, in Brussels.
“Our position is clear, I have been saying this for a long time now, and in recent days I have made it abundantly clear: Spain supports all sanctions against Iran at this time and, of course, supports those that refer to the inclusion of the Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist groups,” he added.
“It is the responsibility and obligation of the European Union to use all the instruments at our disposal to stop this repression,” Albares stated. “I have been clear from the outset that this is the way forward, because these are the instruments available to the European Union,” he concluded.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Diplomat on Wednesday that “Spain supports sanctions against Iran, including those targeting the Revolutionary Guard,” in retaliation for the repression of demonstrations in the country.
According to international organizations and various human rights reports, tens of thousands of people have died as a result of the repression by Iranian authorities since the outbreak of protests, which began in Tehran on December 28th to demand economic and social improvements and spread throughout the country to demand human rights, dignity, freedom, and the fall of the Islamic Republic regime.
The EU
On January 13, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced new sanctions against those responsible for the repression of demonstrations in Iran and recalled that “the European Union has already included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety under its human rights sanctions regime.” He also explained that the measure was being adopted “in close collaboration” with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, and that the Commission was working to present new sanctions “quickly.”
For her part, Kaja Kallas recalled that same day that the EU “already applies extensive sanctions against Iran” for human rights violations, nuclear proliferation, and support for Russia, and specified that “the possibility of imposing additional sanctions is being analyzed.”
Nine days later, the European Parliament condemned the repression and mass killings perpetrated by the Iranian regime against protesters in Iran and called for the expansion and strict application of EU sanctions, such as asset freezes and visa bans. The European Parliament also called on the European Council to move forward, without delay, with the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Last Monday, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, announced via social media his intention to propose the inclusion of the IRGC on the list of terrorist organizations at the European Council meeting this Thursday. Iran was added to the list of terrorist organizations. As a result, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador in Tehran to protest Tajani’s “irresponsible” statements.
On January 13, José Manuel Albares summoned the Iranian ambassador to Spain, Reza Zabib, to convey his “strong condemnation and repulsion” for the repression of “peaceful demonstrations” in the country. That same day, the Iranian Embassy in Madrid stated in a press release, transmitted to The Diplomat, that “the Islamic Republic of Iran recognizes the right to protest and freedom of expression” and that the episodes of violence were perpetrated by “terrorist groups” that “unfairly exploited the civil protests.”