European Parliament approves a resolution endorsing Iran’s ongoing uprising

This resolution was passed just one day after 132 MEPs made a statement in favor of the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic state. The resolution passed today “strongly supports the aspirations of the Iranian people to live in a free, stable, democratic, and inclusive nation that upholds its obligations under international and national law with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Additionally, it strongly condemns the “widespread, intentional, and disproportionate use of force by Iranian security forces against peaceful protestors and calls on the Iranian authorities to stop their continued, systematic, and unacceptable violence against their own citizens; demands that the Iranian authorities allow for a fact-based, quick, impartial, and effective investigation into the killings of all protesters, including bringing those responsible to justice.”

Following the tragic murder of Mahsa (Jina) Amini by the regime’s morality police, protests broke out in Iran. Since then, protests have taken place all over the nation, with people demanding a new government.

The resolution “Calls on the UN, particularly its Human Rights Council, to launch without delay a comprehensive investigation into the events that have taken place in recent weeks, led by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; asks the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international investigative and accountability mechanism for human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian Government.”

It also “Asks the EU and its Member States to use all engagements with the Iranian authorities to demand an immediate end to the violent crackdown against protests and the unconditional release of all those arrested for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, call for an independent investigation into the deaths of Mahsa Amini and dozens of protesters, urge the restoration of access to the internet and communication channels and encourage the abolition of compulsory veiling for women; calls on the member states to store, preserve and share available evidence, in line with the new rules of Eurojust, that may contribute to investigations, including cooperating with and supporting the work of the International Criminal Court.”

Today’s resolution also calls on the Foreign Affairs Council to “add Iranian officials, including all those associated with the ‘morality’ police, who are found complicit in or responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini and violence against protesters, to the EU’s list of individuals against whom restrictive measures in relation to serious human rights violations in Iran have been imposed…”

In a statement released on the eve of today’s resolution, more than 130 MEPs noted that “The prospect of change in Iran has never been this accessible. It is time to acknowledge the Iranian people’s right to self-defense, to topple this regime, and to create a free and democratic Iran.”

For their “vital role in organizing and sustaining these protests while putting up a resistance front against repression,” they also praised the organized opposition [People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK)] and the Resistance Units.

Additionally, Maryam Rajavi, the head of the Iranian opposition, and representatives from the European Parliament’s Friends of Free Iran met to call on world leaders to support the Iranian people’s right to resistance and self-defense against the regime’s escalating brutality.