The European Parliament has approved a resolution unequivocally condemning the systematic tyranny and repression in Iran.

The resolution highlights the dire situation of activists such as Pakhshan Azizi and Wrisha Moradi, who along with over 50 others have been sentenced to death "under inhumane conditions and in blatant violation of human rights". It calls for "an immediate halt to executions and the release of European citizens being held hostage in Iran".

Pakhshan Azizi, 40, is an activits from Iran’s Kurdish minority who is at risk of execution after her death sentence was upheld by the supreme court. She was arrested in August 2023 and sentenced to death the following June after being convicted of “rebellion”. She is being held in the women’s wing of Tehran’s Evin prison.

Last year Iran executed over 900 prisoners and holds dozens of EU citizens hostage.

As Vice President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iran, Labour MEP Daniel Attard, who tabled the resolution together with other political groups, asserted that this is not merely a national issue but a challenge to the fundamental values Europe must defend at all costs. He emphasized that indifference is complicity and that Europe cannot turn a blind eye to such abuses.