Iran executes with impunity. Faced with the demonstrations that have shaken the country for more than a hundred days in response to the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16 after his arrest by the vice squad, the authoritarian regime refuses to show any flexibility. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also vowed on Tuesday that he would show “no mercy” to those showing hostility towards the Islamic Republic.
In fact, two 23-year-olds arrested for protesting have already been executed. And according to the judiciary, 11 people have been sentenced to death in connection with the protests so far. According to Amnesty, in addition to these 11 convicts, 15 other people are charged with crimes that carry the death penalty. The international community is reacting with “a certain weakness, apart from formal declarations,” according to Myriam Benraad, professor of international relations at Schiller International University in Paris and author of Iraq Beyond All Wars (Cavalier Blue), contacted by 20 Minutes.
What has the international community said or done to protest the oppression?
In addition to the executions, hundreds of people died, including dozens of members of the security forces, and thousands were arrested in almost three months. When the protesters are released, they testify to torture, rape and beatings. Some take their own lives after being released from prison. In response to the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on its own people, the European Union imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran on Monday. The EU has therefore attacked a senior cleric, 15 military officials and four members of IRIB, the state broadcaster, by putting them on its blacklist of people banned from entering the EU. Brussels also met eight drone manufacturers and air force commanders whom the 27 European countries accuse of being involved in supplying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
For its part, Washington imposed economic sanctions on December 21 on Iran’s attorney general, as well as several officials and a company that makes equipment for the country’s law enforcement agencies. The five people on whom these sanctions were imposed are charged with “continued violence against protesters”. Among them is Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, who “ordered the courts to act decisively” and “impose severe sentences on many people arrested during the demonstrations,” according to the US Treasury Department. As a result, his assets are frozen in the United States and anyone who conducts a financial transaction with him is subject to the same sanctions. “We condemn the Iranian regime’s intensified use of violence against its own people who are defending their human rights,” said Treasury Department Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
Why does this reaction appear weak and late?
In connection with the war in Ukraine, Iran does not seem to be the European Union’s priority, “it has other problems and, moreover, its resources are limited,” emphasizes Myriam Benraad. “She is aware of what is happening, but also of her weakness,” adds the Professor of International Relations. For its part, Washington “manages crises without clear coordination with European countries, there is no common dialogue in the “Western camp”, which is also very fragile,” she analyzes.
But what most prevents Western countries from responding vigorously to the Iranian regime is the trauma of other insurgencies in the Middle East. After the Arab Spring, the time for democracies has not really come. “In Syria, for example, Bashar al-Assad has regained control and the regime is even worse than it was before 2011,” illustrates Myriam Benraad. What scares this international community, tasked with defending human rights and fundamental freedoms, is regime change, upheaval, destabilization for fear that the outcome will be worse than before. “Not that you appreciate the current regime, Nuance Myriam Benraad, but the EU and the US are a little disillusioned. There is a disillusionment with the uprisings that should lead to the democratization of Middle Eastern countries.”
Besides sanctions, what can the West do to prevent these abuses?
Furthermore, the sanctions imposed on Iran do not affect the regime’s policies. Already for decades under American sanctions as part of its nuclear development, Tehran manages to circumvent them, they have normalized. “The sanctions are important, but not to the extent that they prevent the regime’s repression or limit Iran’s room for maneuver vis-à-vis its neighbors,” analyzes Myriam Benraad.
So what other solution does the West have to limit this bloody repression of a people demanding their freedom? “Weapons,” cuts the Professor of International Relations. The only way for the Democrats to take power is through armed confrontation. So you could send guns to the protesters because this movement wants the skin of the regime. However, Myriam Benraad does not believe in this solution, “because we do not know what would come of it”. “The end of the regime would not necessarily mean democracy. A delivery of arms to the demonstrators would also draw Western countries into the conflict. And the Syrian precedent, in turn, does not motivate the international community to repeat this action. After all, “no one really cares what becomes of the demonstrators,” according to Myriam Benraad. They are alone in their fight against the murderous regime.