{"id":720084,"date":"2026-01-25T16:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T16:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/720084\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T16:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T16:32:12","slug":"protest-in-brussels-against-deadly-repression-in-iran-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/720084\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest in Brussels against deadly repression in Iran \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Another participant, Ali, told POLITICO that he was protesting for the Iranian people. \u201cFor the last two weeks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iranintl.com\/en\/202601223433\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.iranintl.com\/en\/202601223433\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more than 20,000 dead<\/a>. We stand behind the people. We\u2019re going to the European Parliament,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Iran has been the scene of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/european-leaders-metsola-vow-hit-iran-sanctions-after-protesters-killed\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/european-leaders-metsola-vow-hit-iran-sanctions-after-protesters-killed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">widespread and escalating unrest<\/a> since the end of 2025, with protesters calling for political change in the country that has faced a sharp economic downturn. The protests in Iran have been met by increasingly brutal government crackdown, involving mass arrests, killings and a near-total internet shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rights organizations say that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.en-hrana.org\/day-twenty-eight-of-the-protests-arrests-uncertainty-over-detainees-fate-and-international-calls-for-accountability\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thousands have been killed and arrested<\/a> during the unrest. The U.N. Human Rights Council held an emergency session on the situation in Iran and acknowledged that the violence against protesters in recent weeks has been the deadliest since the Iranian revolution in 1979.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1A3A0291-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7824099\"  \/>Rights organizations say that thousands have been killed and arrested during the unrest. | Ferdinand Knapp\/POLITICO<\/p>\n<p>European political leaders have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/iran-protest-crackdown-deaths-eu-kaja-kallas-prepares-tougher-sanctions\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/iran-protest-crackdown-deaths-eu-kaja-kallas-prepares-tougher-sanctions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stepped up demands for new EU sanctions<\/a> against the regime in Tehran in response to the violent suppression of mass protests across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe EU already has sweeping sanctions in place on Iran \u2014 on those responsible for human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities and Tehran\u2019s support for Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine \u2014 and I am prepared to propose additional sanctions in response to the regime\u2019s brutal repression of protestors,\u201d EU\u2019s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/newsletter\/brussels-playbook\/kallas-pitches-new-iran-sanctions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told POLITICO<\/a> earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEurope <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/european-leaders-metsola-vow-hit-iran-sanctions-after-protesters-killed\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/european-leaders-metsola-vow-hit-iran-sanctions-after-protesters-killed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">needs to act \u2014 and fast<\/a>,\u201d European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told POLITICO. \u201cWe will support any future measures taken at EU level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Metsola, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Irish Prime Minister Miche\u00e1l Martin are among those who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/european-leaders-metsola-vow-hit-iran-sanctions-after-protesters-killed\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/european-leaders-metsola-vow-hit-iran-sanctions-after-protesters-killed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">want Brussels to escalate sanctions<\/a> against Tehran.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another participant, Ali, told POLITICO that he was protesting for the Iranian people. \u201cFor the last two weeks,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[14533,2000,299,5187,26386,1945,4582,774,2596,681,839,48,31621,332,2663,49,335],"class_list":{"0":"post-720084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-ali-khamenei","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-extremism","13":"tag-friedrich-merz","14":"tag-human-rights","15":"tag-iran","16":"tag-kaja-kallas","17":"tag-micheal-martin","18":"tag-middle-east","19":"tag-rights","20":"tag-roberta-metsola","21":"tag-russia","22":"tag-sanctions","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-war-in-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115956701242518440","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}