On the brutal repression against protestors in Iran

B100083/2026

European Parliament resolution on the brutal repression against protestors in Iran

(2026/2565(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas since late December 2025 and continuing into 2026, widespread protests have erupted across Iran, initially triggered by an acute economic crisis marked by hyperinflation, the rapid devaluation of the Iranian rial and rising costs of essential goods, and have quickly evolved into a broader movement encompassing hundreds of cities and provinces with demonstrators calling for fundamental political change and an end to the current regime; whereas these protests represent the largest sustained unrest since the nationwide demonstrations of 2022 and 2023;

B. whereas the Iranian regime responded with a severe and violent crackdown by its security forces, including mass arbitrary arrests, the deliberate use of live ammunition and state-sanctioned executions, and acts that amount to crimes against humanity under international law, and a near-total internet and communications blackout imposed by the authorities to suppress information and coordination among protesters; whereas this response has resulted in thousands of reported deaths, tens of thousands of arrests, widespread allegations of torture, and systematic human rights violations, further complicated by accusations of external interference and geopolitical tensions that have drawn international attention and concern;

C. whereas independent monitoring groups report that the crackdown on nationwide protests has resulted in substantial loss of life, with at least 2 550 deaths across Iran being reported, including more than 2 400 protesters, children and bystanders;

D. whereas several sources have revealed that the Iranian authorities are demanding large sums of money from families to return the bodies of relatives killed in the protests for burial;

E. whereas the ongoing cycle of protest and repression underscores deep structural grievances within Iranian society and the urgent need for fundamental freedoms and the right to peaceful political expression to be respected;

F. whereas the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran have continued to consolidate an authoritarian system of governance in recent years, marked by a concentration of power, the erosion of institutional checks and balances, and a systematic suppression of political pluralism, independent media and civil society; whereas this governance model leaves limited space for lawful dissent or democratic participation and has contributed to recurring cycles of unrest by preventing peaceful avenues for the expression of social, economic and political grievances;

G. whereas the laws in force in Iran continue to institutionalise oppression against women and girls, including through compulsory veiling, inheritance discrimination, and testimony and nationality laws, which grant women unequal legal status and limit their autonomy in both public and private life, contrary to international human rights standards to which Iran is bound;

H. whereas state policies have enabled the routine enforcement of mandatory dress regulations through morality patrols, surveillance technologies and administrative penalties, resulting in arrests, fines, denial of access to education and employment, and custodial sentences for women and girls who do not comply; whereas there are documented cases of physical abuse and deaths in custody linked to such enforcement;

I. whereas restrictions on women’s participation in public life persist, including barriers to standing for elected office, exclusion from certain fields of study and professions, and limitations on travel that require spousal or paternal consent, reinforcing economic dependency and social exclusion as a matter of state policy;

J. whereas broader human rights violations in Iran remain systemic, including the use of the death penalty following trials that fail to meet due process standards, the criminalisation of peaceful expression and association, the persecution of human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists, and the targeting of ethnic and religious minorities through discriminatory laws and security practices;

K. whereas in recent years, Iranian authorities have significantly intensified the prosecution and punishment of Christians, particularly converts from Islam, with national courts handing down lengthy prison sentences on charges related solely to their faith or religious activities; whereas Christian converts have been charged under provisions of the penal code that criminalise ‘propaganda’ and ‘actions against national security’ for ordinary practices such as possessing bibles, attending house-church meetings, participating in religious training and online services, or engaging in peaceful worship;

L. whereas Iranian law and practice treat proselytising, religious expression by Christians in the national language and association with house-church communities as crimes punishable by imprisonment or worse, despite constitutional and international guarantees of freedom of belief and worship, and these measures have forced many Christians to abandon public religious life or seek refuge abroad;

M. whereas Iran has continued to pursue a policy that directly conflicts with core interests of the EU, notably through sustained military cooperation with the Russian Federation, North Korea, Pakistan and China, including the transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles, missile technology and related components used in the war against Ukraine, thereby undermining European security, contributing to the prolongation of an armed conflict on the EU’s borders and contravening international efforts to uphold the UN Charter and territorial integrity;

N. whereas Iran’s actions in key maritime corridors, including the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, have continued to threaten freedom of navigation and energy security, exposing the EU and its Member States to supply disruptions, higher energy prices and increased risks to commercial shipping, in violation of international maritime law and long-standing EU interests in secure sea lanes;

O. whereas Iran’s continued development of ballistic missile capabilities and its refusal to return to verifiable compliance with nuclear non-proliferation commitments have heightened regional instability and directly challenged the EU’s long-standing non-proliferation objectives and diplomatic investments, including efforts to preserve a rules-based international order;

P. whereas judicial proceedings, intelligence assessments and law-enforcement investigations in several EU Member States have established that Iranian state actors, including operatives and affiliates of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other Iranian security services, are responsible for transnational repression and covert operations on European soil, including the intimidation and surveillance of dissidents and journalists, targeted killings, attempted assassinations and terrorist plotting, carried out directly or through proxy organisations, such as the Burgas bus bombing in Bulgaria in 2012, the murder of Iranian dissidents in the Netherlands in 2015 and 2017, a planned bomb attack on Iranian dissidents in Paris in 2018, a planned assassination of three Iranian dissidents in Denmark in 2018, an attempted arson attack against a synagogue in Bochum, Germany in 2022 and the attempted killing of former Vice-President of the European Parliament Alejo Vidal-Quadras in 2023;

Q. whereas credible findings by authorities of allied countries of the EU indicate that Iranian intelligence services have outsourced violent attacks to organised criminal groups operating in Europe, including the recruitment of Sweden-based criminal networks to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets, such as the attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January 2024; whereas these activities demonstrate that the Islamic Republic of Iran actively exports violence, intimidation and instability into the EU, using both clandestine networks and official or state-linked infrastructure;

R. whereas in January 2026, Parliament, through a decision by its President, prohibited all diplomatic staff and representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran from entering any Parliament premises in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg in response to the Iranian authorities’ violent crackdown on nationwide protests and their refusal to respect fundamental freedoms, with Iranian passport holders subject to screening and denial of entry if identified as acting on behalf of the regime;

1. Expresses its full solidarity with the people of Iran, including women, workers, students, journalists, human rights defenders and members of religious and ethnic minorities, who continue to peacefully demand dignity, equality, accountability and fundamental freedoms, despite sustained pressure, repression and personal risk;

2. Condemns in the strongest possible terms the Iranian regime’s renewed and escalating campaign of brutal violence against protesters; deeply regrets the loss of life, liberty and livelihoods as a result of state violence and the arbitrary enforcement of oppressive laws; is deeply concerned about the reported abhorrent practice by the Iranian authorities of extorting large sums of money from the families of victims for the return of the bodies of their deceased relatives;

3. Demands immediate and decisive action in the face of the regime’s entrenched, systematic and brutal repression of the Iranian people;

4. Reaffirms its support for the Iranian people’s right to determine their own future through peaceful means, free from fear, coercion or discrimination, and for a society governed by the rule of law and respect for human rights;

5. Calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the killings, to restore access to the internet for all, to allow peaceful protests and to uphold the human right of peaceful assembly, to release immediately and unconditionally all individuals detained or imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights, including for the freedoms of expression, assembly, religion and belief, and to cease the criminalisation of peaceful dissent, religious practice and women’s autonomy;

6. Calls on the Iranian authorities to repeal or amend laws and policies that enable systematic human rights violations, including mandatory dress regulations, vaguely defined national security offences and provisions used to prosecute religious minorities, and to ensure full compliance with Iran’s obligations under international human rights law;

7. Calls on the European External Action Service, the Commission and the Member States to continue to raise these violations consistently in bilateral and multilateral forums, to support independent international accountability mechanisms, and to ensure that EU restrictive measures remain targeted, evidence-based and focused on individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses;

8. Calls on the Council and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to adopt and swiftly implement additional targeted sanctions including travel bans, asset freezes and other restrictive measures against all individuals, entities and security forces responsible for the violent repression of protests in Iran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i and Prosecutor-General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad; calls on the Council and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to ensure that sanctions are enforceable and coherent with broader EU human rights and security objectives;

9. Demands that the Council immediately designate the IRGC in its entirety as a terrorist organisation; strongly encourages the few remaining Member States to give up their resistance to such a designation;

10. Encourages the EU Member States to consider, in a coordinated action, closing their respective embassies and recalling their ambassadors to the Islamic Republic of Iran;

11. Calls for the EU and its Member States to prepare for all possible scenarios, including a potential collapse of the Iranian regime, and to ensure that no perpetrator of repression is granted asylum within the territory of the EU at any time;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Member States, and the Government and Parliament of Iran.