“Tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned and hundreds killed. I felt so bad for them because of that, and so I helped them in every way I could, including by organising events in the European Parliament and so on. I was just helping the Freedom Movement of Iran to be able to tell the European and world public the truth about what is happening in Iran. It seems a bit ridiculous to me that they have now put me on the terrorist list,” said MEP Milan Zver, the first Slovenian politician to receive this “honour,” in his response to the shocking Iranian move.
The Iranian terrorist regime has sanctioned eight influential European organisations and companies and 12 influential European individuals, including MEP Milan Zver from the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS). The country explained its decision by claiming that the sanctioned individuals and organisations encourage and promote terrorism and violence, which has resulted in unrest, terrorist activities and human rights violations, all to the detriment of the Iranian people. The persons targeted by the sanctions are not allowed to enter the Republic of Ian, and their assets under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be frozen. The institutions that have been sanctioned by the terrorist regime are: the group “Friends of a Free Iran” and its members in the European Parliament, “The International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ)” and its members, the
organisation “Stop the Bomb,” and the Deutsche Welle Persian news agency, reports the Tasnim News Agency.
The list also includes the Persian press agency RFI, the French “International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism” (LICRA), and two German companies – namely, “Karl Kolb Co.” and “Rhein Bayern Fahrzeugbau Co.”. The individuals who are also on the list of the sanctioned, in addition to Milan Zver, are: Aljo Vidal Quadras, Javier Zarazlejos, Charlier Weimers, Jan Zahradil, Helmot Geuking, Hermann Tertsch, Meyer Habib, Matine Valleton, Jean Francois Legaret, Johanned Boie and Alexandra Wurzbach. Last week, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs already introduced sanctions against a number of British individuals and organisations for their support of terrorism, inciting violence, and violating human rights.
In his response to the news, Zver said the following: “I have supported the Freedom Movement of Iran for many years now, ever since I entered European politics. It is a movement led by Maryam Rajavi, which is based in Paris.” As he went on to explain, this is a powerful lobby movement in the European Parliament. They have a legal interest group in the Parliament, called Friends of a Free Iran, which Zver co-chairs. The movement has a fairly normal programme, for example, they are fighting for democracy, freedom and equality for women. What is interesting, however, is that women are at the forefront of this protest movement. The movement itself is very involved and proactive. At the moment, they have an exhibition in the European Parliament showing photographs of all those who have been murdered in recent weeks. A similar uprising already happened in 2019. Each time, the regime has reacted very harshly. Tens of thousands of participants have been imprisoned, and hundreds have been killed. “I felt so bad for them because of that, and so I helped them in every way I could, including by organising events in the European Parliament and so on.”
“This is the first time that a Slovenian politician has been put on a ‘liquidation list’” “I was just helping the Freedom Movement of Iran be able to tell the European and world public the truth about what is happening in Iran. It seems a bit ridiculous to me that they have now put me on the terrorist list,” he said. Meanwhile, Russia has also branded 40 MEPs as “unwelcome.” But that is quite different from Iran labelling “them” as “terrorists.” It is a little strange and threatening. “By doing this, they are making it their legitimate right to liquidate us. At the moment, no extra protection has been provided for us. But all of us fellow “terrorist” colleagues will probably get together and have a little look at what can be done and how the European Parliament will react to this.” The MEP admitted that he was “a bit uncomfortable” because of the situation in question. He does not currently have a particular desire to travel to Iran, but he does respect its (Persian) history.
Namely, he believes that it is one of the most important human civilisations. What is happening in this country at the moment is totally inappropriate. The regime is led by Ebrahim Raisi, who took part in the mass murder of 30,000 civilians in 1988 and was later even welcomed on a visit to the United Nations and the French President, Emmanuel Macron. These were major mistakes in European and world politics.
Former President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, knew what was happening, but the European Union did not follow him. And when the negotiations were held in Vienna, the EU was not even invited to attend, even though it was happening on its soil. “The current situation is really strange, but we will try to get the answers from some institutions. This is the first time that a Slovenian politician has been put on a ‘liquidation list.” If someone is declared unwelcome, that is fine, you just don’t travel to the country in question. But if you are declared a terrorist, that is a completely different story.” We also contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with our journalistic question about this topic. It is worth noting that Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon was an associate of MEP Zver back when she was still an MEP herself, but she also collaborated/sympathised (?!) with the representatives of the regime. Whose side will she take this time? Is the friendship between the two former colleagues just a nice façade?!
Domen Mezeg
