European Union imposes new sanctions on Iran

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Union imposed sanctions on Tuesday, March 12, on an Iranian police unit monitoring the Internet, as well on several judges and media bosses the bloc blames for human rights violations in the Islamic Republic, Reuters reported.

The sanctions reflect mounting concerns about human rights in Iran and are separate from measures against Tehran over its nuclear program, which governments in the European Union and elsewhere suspect has a covert military dimension.

The move brings to nearly 90 the number of people targeted by EU asset freezes and visa bans over concerns about human rights in Iran.

Among those newly listed is a judge, Morteza Kiasati, who imposed death sentences on four Iranian Arab political prisoners.

"They were arrested, tortured and hanged without due process," the European Union said in its official journal. "These cases and the lack of due process were referenced in a report ... by the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran."

Iran accused the UN special rapporteur of bias.

A judge the European Union says was responsible for imposing death sentences on five other Iranian Arabs was also included.

Both cases have attracted international attention, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told Iran to stop the executions of the five members of Iran's Arab minority in January.

It was not clear whether the sentences against the five have been carried out.

Mohammad Sarafraz, the head of both IRIB, Iran's state broadcaster, and Press TV, the state English-language television news channel, was listed over his alleged cooperation with security services and prosecutors to broadcast forced confessions of detainees. Press TV's newsroom director was also similarly listed.

The broadcasts included confessions by an Iranian-Canadian journalist, Maziar Bahari, the EU said. He was working for Newsweek magazine when he was arrested in Iran in 2009 and held in prison for four months.