ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Germany on Thursday asked its citizens to leave Iran over growing fears of them being subjected to arbitrary arrests as nationwide protests continue for the seventh week.
Germany’s foreign ministry updated its travel advice, urging its citizens not to travel to Iran for those already there, particularly dual nationals, to leave the country as they face a “concrete risk of being arbitrarily arrested, interrogated and sentenced to long prison terms.”
Last month, New Zealand also issued similar travel warnings to its citizens. The US, UK, and the EU have slammed sanctions on Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters.
Switzerland imposed sanctions on Iran on Wednesday over Russia’s alleged use of Iranian-made drones in its war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has accused Russia of using Iranian drones in its recent devastating attacks on major Ukrainian cities. The Kremlin has said it has no information on Iranian-made drones being used in the war. Tehran has also repeatedly denied sending armed drones to Moscow, labeling the claims as “biased”.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdollahian over phone on Friday during which Kubela “demanded Iran to immediately cease the flow of weapons to Russia used to kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine.”
The death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in the custody of Tehran’s morality police on September 16 ignited an unprecedented nationwide protest movement that has brought Iranians from all corners together to call for the overthrow of the Islamic regime. The use of violence by Iranian security forces to disperse the demonstrators has been widely condemned by the international community.
At least 277 including 40 Children Killed according to the latest tally by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) on Wednesday.
By Zheen Saman
