Albares rejects lifting sanctions on Iran because “executions and human rights violations continue”

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares ruled out lifting European sanctions on Iran on Monday, stating that “we must be very clear with the Iranian regime” regarding the executions of opposition members and human rights violations, “especially against Iranian women.” Albares made these statements during his official visit to Puerto Rico, after Iran proposed lifting US sanctions in exchange for ending the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Monday that lifting European sanctions against Iran “would be premature” because there has been no “fundamental change” regarding human rights. “This war has to end, and the extension of the ceasefire is good news,” Albares declared regarding the extension of the truce between the United States and Iran. This ceasefire, he insisted, must lead to a “definitive end to the war” that must “include Lebanon” and allow “free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, without any discrimination and without the payment of any toll,” he warned. Furthermore, he continued, “there must also be a debate on the peaceful use of Iranian nuclear energy,” because, “of course, we are very clear that Iran cannot have any kind of nuclear bomb.” “It is within these parameters that Spain supports the negotiation, the Pakistani mediation, and direct negotiations between all parties,” he added. In any case, and in response to journalists' questions about European sanctions against Iran, Albares was clear: “I don't believe that lifting any sanctions at this time will help the negotiations in any way, and, of course, we must also be very clear with respect to the Iranian regime” regarding “the ongoing executions of opposition members and the human rights violations, especially against Iranian women.” “This is a war in violation of international law, in which we have no part,” but “at the same time, as the Spanish government and Spanish foreign policy do,” we must “condemn with equal firmness each and every violation by the Iranian regime,” she warned. “The sanctions are in place until the circumstances that led to them disappear,” but, “unfortunately, those circumstances have not yet disappeared,” she added. Speaking to the press after attending a parliamentary meeting of her party, the CDU/CSU, in Berlin, Von der Leyen warned that “lifting the sanctions” on Iran “would be premature, because there is a reason they were imposed, and that reason is its behavior toward its own population (…), the suppression of human rights, and specifically the rights of women in Iran, along with many other issues.” “So far this year alone, the regime has killed 17,000 young people,” the German leader noted. “The first thing we need to see is a fundamental change in Iran before the sanctions can be lifted, and for that reason, we believe it is too soon to lift them,” he added. The European Union maintains sanctions against 263 individuals and 53 entities in Iran and recently designated the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, with the express support of the Spanish government. Last week, the 27 member states agreed on restrictive measures against those responsible for the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

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