EU Sanctions Unconstructive Move Based on Disinformation 

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian censured the European Union sanctions levied on Tehran, calling them “superfluous” and “an unconstructive act out of miscalculation.”
“Down a well-worn path of ineffective sanctions, the EU today adopted further superfluous sanctions on Iranian persons. It is an unconstructive act out of miscalculation, based on widespread disinformation,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a post on his twitter account on Monday.
He emphasized that “riots and vandalism are not tolerated anywhere; Iran is no exception.”
His tweet came after the EU imposed sanctions on 11 Iranian individuals and four entities over the country’s response to protests and riots that followed the death of a young Iranian woman in police custody.
The sanctions targeted a section of Iran’s police, the Basij volunteer forces and the cyber division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
The bloc also listed Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Issa Zarepour for the internet shutdown.
The coercive measures include travel bans and asset freezes.
Protests over the death of the Iranian woman Mahsa Amini erupted first in her native province of Kurdestan and later in several cities, including the capital Tehran. Amini fainted at a police station and was pronounced dead days later on September 16 at a Tehran hospital.
A report by the Iranian parliament has concluded that Amini’s death was not linked to physical assault and battery.
According to the report, the young woman was neither assaulted during her transfer to the police center in Tehran, where she fell into a coma nor hit while being held there.

Reciprocal Action 

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the decision by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union to impose fresh sanctions against Iranian officials and institutions, unveiling plans for Tehran’s reciprocal sanctions on Europeans.
In a statement on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani slammed the fresh EU sanctions as a violation of international law and a clear example of interference in the internal affairs of Iran.
“It is deeply regrettable that certain political motivations as well as relying on baseless, distorted information and fabricated claims by the enemies of the Iranian nation and the well-known media affiliated with them are the basis of such a wrong and unconstructive decision,” the spokesman deplored.
Kanaani described the decision by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union as an indication of the continuation of a biased approach and exploitation of human rights as a tool to achieve political goals, saying it is “fundamentally rejected, ineffective and invalid.”
“The great nation of Iran already consider the European Union and its members as the great violators of human rights due to their inaction and cooperation regarding the illegal maximum sanctions of the United States,” he stated, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
Rejecting the accusations levelled against Iranian individuals and institutions, Kanaani added, “In response to today’s action by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union, reciprocal sanctions will soon be imposed and announced against relevant European individuals and institutions.”