Iran Says European Travel Ban, Asset Freeze Seeks to Distract
BloomBerg—Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the imposition of European Union travel bans and asset freezes against 32 Iranian officials are an effort to distract public opinion from abuses committed by Western nations.
The chiefs of Iran’s prosecutor’s office, police and government-backed militia are among the individuals subject to the sanctions following the EU’s April 12 decision. The bloc’s foreign ministers said they were “complicit or responsible for directing or implementing grave human-rights violations” against Iranians.
The EU’s measures are an attempt “to divert attention” from cases of human rights violations committed by Western governments in their own countries and in countries in the region, including Iraq and Afghanistan as well as “crimes committed” by Israel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, according to Press TV.