Iran: Sanctions ‘backbone of American human rights laws'

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani has censured the new round of US sanctions against the Islamic Republic, saying the bans are the “backbone” of the so-called American human rights regulations.

Kan’ani made the remark in a post on his Instagram account on Friday, after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on seven Iranian officials over what it claimed to be the shutdown of internet access and the crackdown on protesters.

“Every day, a new list of sanctions against Iran is published under some pretext. This time, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Communications and five other Iranian officials were sanctioned by the US government,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

“Of course, before this seven-member list of Iranian ministers and figures, each and every Iranian individual was subjected hundreds of times to the most unprecedented sanctions in history against a nation by the American regime,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the US Treasury Department levied sanctions on Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eisa Zarepour, among others, accusing Vahidi of ordering suppression of riots after the death of Mahsa Amini, and Zarepour of leading attempts to block the country’s internet access in a bid to slow the protests.

“The whole Iranian people, without any distinction and discrimination, have been struggling for many years with the brutal sanctions of the United States, which have targeted their livelihood, jobs, health and normal life,” Kan’ani said, as Iran has since 2018 been under draconian sanctions by the US and its European allies after Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“Even EB children were not exempted from the unilateral, illegal and cruel US sanctions. Sanctions are the backbone of American human rights,” he noted, referring to children suffering from a rare skin condition known as epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

Protests over the death of the 22-year-old Iranian woman, who fainted at a police station on September 16 and was later pronounced dead at a Tehran hospital, erupted first in her native province of Kordestan and later in several cities, including the capital.

Immediately after Amini’s death, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi ordered a thorough investigation into the case and an official report published on Friday said the 22-year-old’s death had been caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

What started as peaceful protests took a violent turn after unruly protesters fatally attacked policemen and indulged in vandalism against public property in several cities.

Probe: Mahsa Amini’s death caused by illness rather than alleged blows to her head, body

Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization says Mahsa Amini’s death was caused by prior illness rather than alleged blows to the head.

‘Other Iranian diplomatic missions also attacked in Europe’

In another development on Friday, Kan’ani said in a thread of tweets that there have recently been other assaults on the Iranian diplomatic missions in Europe similar to the attack on the Islamic Republic’s embassy and ambassador in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Underlining the link between the attackers on Iranian diplomatic buildings and Western support for the rioters in Iran, Kan’ani called on the hosting governments to adhere to their legal obligation and take “immediate” measures to protect the Iranian missions.

“Today, in a grave security accident in our embassy in Copenhagen, an assailant tried & fortunately failed to stab our ambassador, who happens to be a woman. This assault on our diplomatic mission was the latest of recent violent & unlawful acts against Iran in Europe,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

“Recently there were similar violent attacks on our diplo missions in Europe. The link btwn such assaults & West's political support for rioters is undeniable. The hosting govs have a legal obligation to take sufficient security measures. They're expected to do so immediately,” he added.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian lashed out at Denmark for failing to ensure the security of the Islamic Republic’s embassy and ambassador in Copenhagen after an armed assailant broke into the diplomatic site.

In a phone call with Iranian Ambassador to Copenhagen Afsaneh Nadipour on Friday, Amir-Abdollahian said it is a shame that such an attack happens against a “female ambassador with diplomatic impunity in the heart of Europe.” He also criticized the Danish police for their belated response to the intrusion.

The director general of West Europe at the Iranian Foreign Ministry also summoned Denmark’s ambassador to Tehran to officially protest over a lack of security for Iran’s embassy and its diplomats.

Last week, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s chargé d’affaires to protest an attack on the Iranian embassy in Stockholm.

The Swedish diplomat was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry in the absence of the ambassador to convey the Islamic Republic’s strong protest with regard to the Swedish police’s failure to take the fully required security measures in accordance with the Vienna Convention.

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