ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran will be suspending human rights talks and cooperation with the European Union (EU) in several domains over the sanctioning of several Iranian security officials, according to the foreign ministry. Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told state media outlet IRNA on Monday night that Iran would be "suspending all human rights talks and cooperation resulting from these talks with the EU, especially in (the fields of) terrorism, drugs and refugees". The EU on Monday sanctioned eight Iranian militia commanders and police chiefs, including the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, over the government's brutal crackdown on protests in November 2019. "The IRGC’s regular forces and the Basij militia used lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests in Iran, causing the deaths of and injuries to unarmed protesters and other civilians in many cities across the country," the EU said in its official journal. "As a member of the National Security Council, Hossein Salami took part in the sessions that resulted in the orders to use lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests. Hossein Salami therefore bears responsibility for serious human rights violations in Iran," they added, referring to the IRGC head.
