The European Parliament is set to vote on a resolution slamming the “violent crackdown of the recent protests by Iran,” following a decision made Monday.
After legislators from across the political spectrum voted in favor of the proposal by the European Conservatives and Reformists group, lawmakers plan to debate the resolution on Wednesday and hold a vote on Thursday, during the last session of 2019, being held in Strasbourg, France.
MEP Anna Fotyga, a member of the EU Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said the legislature should take a stand against the Iranian regime’s brutality without delay.
“Our voice raised timely to defend protesting Iranians is a matter of life or death for many imprisoned and still suffering insecurity,” Fotyga said, speaking in English. “We already know that around 1,500 people have been killed in Iran during the recent crackdown.”
Fotyga described herself as “a person of long-standing experience of protests against Communism,” and therefore, she added: “I know how vital and how important our voice is for those suffering.”
The MEP’s office is currently working on drafting the resolution.
The American Jewish Committee’s Transantlantic Institute praised the European Parliament’s decision, with its director Daniel Schwammenthal calling the move “crucial,” and a vote “to stand up for democracy and human rights in Iran.”
“Until now, the European Union has been incomprehensibly reticent to condemn the regime’s violence,” Schwammenthal said. “It’s now incumbent upon the European Parliament to clearly state that Europe stands with the people of Iran and not its oppressors. The protests that have erupted are to a large degree triggered by the fact that the regime isn’t investing in the welfare of its own people but instead has used its scarce resources to fund terror groups like Hezbollah, assist the Assad regime in ethnically cleansing Syria and exporting its brutal methods to the region.”
Earlier this month, on a trip to Portugal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the protests across Iran are a sign that the American “maximum pressure” campaign is working, and lamented that European countries are trying to circumvent sanctions.
“They should be ashamed of themselves,” he said. “While people are risking their lives and dying on the streets of Tehran, they are giving sustenance and support to this radical regime.”
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