‘A State Policy’ of Hostage Taking: EU Levies Sanctions Against Iranian Judiciary Over Human Rights Violations

Latest Developments

• Sanctions Target Prison, Justice Officials: The European Union imposed sanctions on April 14 against seven Iranian prison and justice officials and two entities. A statement from the bloc cited “serious human rights violations in Iran” and the ongoing arbitrary detention of EU citizens and dual nationals. The sanctions targeted Shiraz Central Prison and the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz. Among the designated individuals were members of the judiciary, including Farzadi Hedayatollah, head of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, and Mehdi Nemati, head of the Fars Prisons Protection and Intelligence Department.
• Increase in Executions Cited: The European Union condemned the “dramatic increase in the number of executions” in Iran over the past year, “including of women and individuals belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, as well as of one European citizen.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot criticized Iran’s use of arbitrary detention, calling it “a state policy” of hostage taking. “The conditions in which some of our French and European Compatriots are being detained are disgraceful and comparable to torture under international law,” Barrot said.
• Recent EU Arrests: The latest EU sanctions against Iran were prompted by Brussels’ concern over the rising number of EU citizens detained on “spurious grounds … with no chance of a fair trial.” In March, French citizen Olivier Grondeau was released after spending more than 880 days in Evin Prison. In December 2024, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained for three weeks by the Islamic Republic following the arrest of Iranian businessman Mohammad Abenini in the Italian city of Milan on suspicion of supplying drone technology to the Tehran regime.

FDD Expert Response

“The EU’s action against Iran is long overdue and mirrors similar steps the United States has taken to hold accountable those responsible for kidnapping hostages at the direction of the regime in Tehran. Iran is continuing to use hostage diplomacy to gain leverage even while nuclear negotiations are ongoing with the United States. The Islamic regime cannot be allowed to continually kidnap and unlawfully detain innocent Iranians and foreign citizens as a means of creating leverage in its foreign policy.” — Tyler Stapleton, Director of Congressional Relations at FDD Action

“Iran currently has no incentive to abandon its practice of hostage diplomacy, a strategy consistently reinforced by Europe’s failure to impose meaningful consequences on the principal architect of this tactic. To demonstrate its commitment to protecting its own citizens from state-sponsored extortion, the European Union must also designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization for its role in this reprehensible practice.” — Janatan Sayeh, Research Analyst

FDD Background and Analysis

“Iran Charges British Couple With Spurious Espionage Charges,” FDD Flash Brief

“Tehran Arrests Iranian-American Dual National, Executes Jewish Iranian,” FDD Flash Brief

“Ten Reasons Why the Hostage Deal with Tehran Is a Disaster,” by Saeed Ghasseminejad

“The Disastrous Implications of the $6 Billion Iran Hostage Deal,” by Richard Goldberg