Brussels: The Council of the European Union has taken decisive action by imposing restrictive measures on 16 individuals and 3 entities in response to serious human rights violations in Iran.
According to Emirates News Agency, this move targets those involved in the suppression of street protests in January 2026, which resulted in a significant number of civilian casualties.
The individuals and entities now facing sanctions include Iran's Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Law Enforcement and several local commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who played a direct role in the violent crackdown on protests. Additionally, the sanctions target the corps responsible for coordinating IRGC and Basij forces in Tehran, as well as the Imam Reza Corps in Khorasan Razavi province, known for its severe actions against protesters.
The Council has also named members of the judiciary involved in trials against peaceful protesters and activists, including women's rights and political activists. These individuals are accused of extracting forced confessions, violating fair trial guarantees, and issuing severe sentences against peaceful activists.
Further sanctions have been placed on the Head of the Prisons, Security and Educational Measures Organisation of Iran, under whose leadership significant human rights violations have been reported in Iranian prisons. These include torture, executions of juvenile offenders, arbitrary detentions, and abuses against political opponents and ethnic and religious minorities, along with instances of sexual violence against female prisoners.
The sanctions extend to Naji Research and Development Company (NRDC), an Iranian IT services firm, for developing the "Nazer" mobile application used for surveillance by Iranian Law Enforcement Forces. The Head of the Tehran Cyber Police is also sanctioned for their role in internet censorship and unjust prosecutions related to digital content.
With these new measures, the EU's sanctions in response to human rights violations in Iran now affect 263 individuals and 53 entities. These sanctions involve asset freezes, travel bans to the EU, and restrictions on economic resources. An export ban on equipment that could be used for internal repression or telecommunications monitoring is also enforced.
The legal acts related to these measures have been officially published in the Official Journal of the EU.