“The EU backs terror groups like the MeK, [and terrorist] groups with bases in northern Iraq & groups in Pakistan,” Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran and a political analyst, wrote in a tweet on Monday, referring to the anti-Iranian notorious Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization that is a known terrorist cult responsible for assassinating thousands of Iranian people and officials. The group is based in a number of European countries that claim to be advocates of human rights.
“These groups & monarchists openly claim responsibility for riots in Iran, where well over 40 police/Basij were murdered,” Marandi added.
“Instead of apologizing, the shameless EU sanctions Press TV!” Marandi concluded.
His tweet came after the European Union on Monday announced new sanctions on a further 29 Iranian officials and three organizations for the alleged crackdown on protests, which began following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman, who collapsed in police custody and was pronounced dead a few days later at the hospital.
The 29-member bloc imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, four members of the police squad that arrested Amini, high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), including its provincial commanders, the commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces, and state broadcaster Press TV, which it accused of airing "forced confessions of detainees," an EU statement said.
Experts believe that the sanctions imposed on Press TV by the EU, and earlier by the government of Canada, are aimed at muzzling free speech and alternative views.
MNA/