ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday threatened to retaliate against the European Union (EU) over what he described as “interference” in Iranian affairs amid unrest continuously growing in the country following the death of a Kurdish woman in police custody last month.
During a phone call, Amir-Abdollahian and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell discussed the ongoing protests in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini.
"If the EU takes a hasty political action based on baseless accusations and in order to encourage rioters and terrorists who have targeted the lives and property of the Iranian people, we will have a reciprocal response to it,” Amir-Abdollahian was cited by Iranian state media as saying during the call.
In a statement on Tuesday, Borrell said the EU had called on Iranian authorities to ensure that the fundamental rights of citizens are respected. “Numerous reports clearly show that the response of Iranian security and police forces has been disproportionate and resulted in tens of dozens of lives lost,” it read.
Borrell added that the concerns regarding the violent crackdown on Iranian protesters were raised directly to the country’s President Ebrahim Raisi.
Amir-Abdollahian said during the call that Iran was “following the issue of Ms. Mahsa Amini's death seriously in accordance with our internal laws. The judicial system has this issue firmly on its agenda.” He added that a forensic report would soon be released.
He also thanked Borrell for his efforts in talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions off Iran. Borrell reportedly stated the EU was ready to reach an agreement, calling recent developments between Iran the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as “promising.”
Borrell tweeted that he had called on Amir-Abdollahian to end the violence against protesters.
Spoke w/@Amirabdolahian. Asked for accountability for death of #MashaAmini, to stop violence against demonstrators & to release those detained
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 6, 2022
Right to protest & free flow of information must be allowed. EU is considering all options
Also asked Iran to cooperate with @iaeaorg
At least 154 people have been killed since nationwide protests erupted in Iran on September 16, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) said on Tuesday.
The nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, and the United States in 2015, offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for the curtailment of its nuclear program that it rapidly advanced following former US president Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from what he called the “terrible” deal in 2018, sparking concerns that Tehran is seeking to develop an atomic bomb.
By Zheen Saman
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