At its session in Strasbourg on April 2 and 3, 2025, the European Parliament adopted a resolution regarding the “execution spree in Iran and the confirmation of the death sentences of activists Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani.”
The European Parliament resolution condemns the decision by the Iranian regime’s Supreme Court to uphold the death sentences of political prisoners Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani. It calls for their immediate release and the release of all prisoners facing execution for their political activities.
https://twitter.com/HanifJazayeri/status/1907795128116297917
The resolution urges the Council of the European Union to designate the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization and to continue sanctioning regime leaders for human rights violations.
The European Parliament resolution condemns the clerical dictatorship’s use of hostage diplomacy and calls on the European Union and its member states to make the abolition of the death penalty and the release of political prisoners and EU nationals a condition for improving relations with the Iranian regime.
The European Parliament session in Strasbourg, held to discuss and adopt this resolution, featured impassioned speeches from representatives of various European countries, indicating a broad consensus among MEPs in condemning the repressive actions of the Iranian regime.
Petras Auštrevičius, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Lithuania, noted that the number of executions doubled last year and emphasized that the Iranian regime uses the death penalty as a tool of repression. He called on the European Union to take decisive measures to “stop brutalities carried out in Iran.”
Let’s focus on appropriate actions against #Teheran regime, assigning #IRGC as a terrorist organisation, asking U.N. HRC to carry out the necessary investigations in human rights abuses. Iranian mullahs regime must pay a high price for opposition executions pic.twitter.com/qc2v2SNLEA
— Petras Austrevicius (@petras_petras) April 3, 2025
Francisco Assis, an MEP from Portugal, described the Iranian regime as one of the most atrocious contemporary regimes, and said that the world is dealing with a regime that suppresses women and men.
Veronika Vrecionová, an MEP from the Czech Republic, described the unjust trial and death sentences of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani as a clear example of show trials in a dictatorial regime.
Milan Zver from Slovakia emphasized that Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani cried out for the freedom of the Iranian people and it is now time for the international community and the European Union to take necessary actions. In all negotiations with Iran, European states must demand a halt to these executions, he said, adding that Iran’s human rights issue must be recognized and discussed in the United Nations Security Council.
https://twitter.com/MilanZver/status/1907790763590586670
Other MEPs who spoke at the session included Davor Ivo Stier from Croatia and Danuše Nerudová, who strongly demanded the recognition of the Iranian regime as a terrorist state and full support for the victims of repression in Iran.
Hajja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Crisis Preparedness, Management, and Equality, responded to the MEPs’ speeches, stating that the European Union closely monitors the human rights situation in Iran and warned that last year alone, over 900 executions were recorded, the highest figure since 2015.
She added that the European Union has a firm, clear, and long-standing opposition to the death penalty at all times and under all circumstances and called on Iranian authorities to annul the death sentences of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani.
The unprecedented increase in the number of executions by the clerical regime, and its instrumental use of the judicial system to suppress and confront the protests and uprisings of the fed-up population, necessitate decisive international action against this anti-human regime.
The adoption of the European Parliament resolution against the wave of executions and gross human rights violations in Iran is a step towards global accountability for the structural and systematic crimes of this anti-human regime.