The Iranian regime executed Abdolhamid Mir-Baluchzehi, a political prisoner in Zahedan, southeast Iran on Saturday. Mir-Baluchzehi’s execution comes two weeks after the mullahs hanged 13 prisoners across Iran, including European resident Ruhollah Zam.
These brutal hangings underline the necessity of the international community taking decisive action against human rights violations in Iran.
On December 12, simultaneous with a business forum with European countries, the regime hanged Zam. A week before, the European Union adopted a new global sanctions regime against human rights violators.
By executing Zam, Iran confirmed it does not take the EU’s new sanctions regime seriously. This is mainly due to the weak reaction by the European leaders. The business forum was canceled due to Iran’s execution of Zam. Yet, the organizers hoped to hold this meeting in the “near future.”
What should be expected from the Iranian regime when Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, decides to deliver a joint keynote speech with the mullahs’ Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif?
The EU’s contradictory approach to the regime in terms of human rights prompted the regime’s president, Hassan Rouhani, to assuredly say that Zam’s execution would not affect Tehran’s relations with the EU.
On Monday, December 14, Borrell confirmed Rouhani’s remarks, saying the execution of Zam would not change the EU’s desire to revive the 2015 international nuclear deal with Tehran.
On December 10, Mr. Borrell said: “When serious human rights violations happen, the EU must go beyond adopting resolutions and making statements. We must be able to act.” By prioritizing the economy over human rights violations and dealing with Zarif, who praised Iran’s regime as the “greatest democracy in the region,” Borrell ridicules his own remarks.
The ruling theocracy in Iran, by increasing the number of hangings, particularly political executions, confirmed it has no respect for the international humanitarian standards. The regime will continue torture and execution because it is its only tool to control the restive society. The ongoing executions in Iran confirm the regime has not changed course in human rights violations.
The Iranian regime will never stop human rights violations, as long as its crimes against humanity are not punished.
The regime massacred over 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988. In a letter published in December 2020, seven UN experts called the 1988 massacre “crimes against humanity” and asked for an international investigation.
Yet, the international community, particularly the EU, are turning a blind eye. This inaction allows the regime to continue its human rights violations, killing protesters like it did in November 2019 and gunning down 1500 people on the street. It will continue its disregard for human rights.
Disregarding human rights violations in Iran does not limit the mullahs’ atrocities to Iran’s borders. The 2018 bomb plot against the opposition rally in France, commanded by Iran’s diplomat-terrorist, Assadollah Assadi, confirms that appeasing the mullahs’ regime will increase risks for the Iranian people and the entire world.
Since his arrest, Assadi refused to cooperate with authorities and did not appear in court. Although he was caught red-handed, Assadi blatantly claims he has diplomatic immunity.
And Why shouldn’t he? When Borrell and other European leaders meet with Assadi’s boss, Zarif, who facilitated the bomb plot by giving diplomatic privileges to Assadi and was his superior authority in diplomatic rank.
The mere condemnation of human rights violations does not bring victims back to life. Inaction only adds to the grief of the victims’ family members. Condemning the regime’s terrorism wouldn’t guarantee peace.
When it comes to human rights violations, as Mr. Borrell at least said in words, the EU should go beyond resolutions and condemnations. It must act. The regime will not stop spreading terrorism until the international community acts.
So, the EU should act now. It should close the regime’s embassies, expel the regime’s agents, reject any negotiation with the regime, designate Zarif and Iran’s other authorities for their role in human rights violations and terrorism, and prioritize humanitarian values over economic interests.
