The Iranian regime has already executed two 23-year-olds for participating in the protests that have shaken the country since September, 11 others have been sentenced to death.
Faced with the bloody repression of the Islamic Republic, the international community has above all made great declarations and taken some sanctions against the regime.
Why does this Western response now seem quite weak and late?
Some answers with Myriam Benraad, professor of international relations at the Schiller International University in Paris and author of
Iraq Beyond All Wars
(Blue Rider).
Iran executes with impunity.
Faced with the demonstrations that have shaken the country for more than a hundred days now, in response to the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16 after his arrest by the morality police, the authoritarian regime does not intend to show an ounce of flexibility.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also promised on Tuesday that he will have “no mercy” towards those who show their hostility towards the Islamic republic.
In fact, two 23-year-olds arrested for protesting have already been executed.
And according to the judiciary, 11 people have so far been sentenced to death in connection with the protests.
According to Amnesty, in addition to these 11 convicts, 15 other people are charged with offenses punishable by the death penalty.
Opposite, the international community reacts with a "certain weakness apart from formal declarations", according to Myriam Benraad, professor of international relations at the Schiller International University in Paris and author of
Iraq Beyond All Wars
(Cavalier blue), contacted by
20 Minutes
.
What has the international community said or done to protest the repression?
In addition to the executions, in almost three months, hundreds of people have lost their lives, including dozens of members of the security forces, and thousands have been arrested.
When the demonstrators are released, they testify to torture, rape and beatings.
Some take their own lives once released from prison.
In response to the Iranian regime's violent crackdown on its own people, the European Union on Monday imposed a new round of sanctions against Tehran.
The EU has thus attacked a senior cleric, 15 military officials and four members of the IRIB, the state radio and television, by placing them on its blacklist of people banned from entering the EU .
Brussels also hit eight drone manufacturers and air force commanders,
For its part, Washington imposed economic sanctions on December 21 against the Iranian attorney general, as well as several officials and a company that manufactures equipment for the country's law enforcement agencies.
The five people targeted by these sanctions are implicated for "continuous violence against demonstrators".
Among them, the Attorney General of Iran, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, who "gave a directive to the courts to act" decisively "and impose severe sentences on many people arrested during the demonstrations", details the department. US Treasury.
His assets in the United States are then frozen, and anyone carrying out a financial transaction with him is also liable to the same sanctions.
Why does this reaction seem weak and late?
With the context of the war in Ukraine, Iran does not seem to be the priority of the European Union, it "is on other issues and, moreover, its means are limited", underlines Myriam Benraad.
“She is aware of what is happening but also of her weakness,” adds the professor of international relations.
For its part, Washington “manages crises without clear coordination with European countries, there is no common dialogue in the “Western camp”, which is also very fragile”, she analyzes.
But what most holds Western countries back from responding forcefully to the Iranian regime is the trauma of other uprisings in the Middle East.
After the Arab Spring, the time for democracies has not really arrived.
"In Syria, for example, Bashar al-Assad has regained control and the regime is even worse than before 2011", illustrates Myriam Benraad.
What frightens this international community, which is supposed to defend human rights and fundamental freedoms, is a change of regime, an upheaval, destabilization, fearing that the result will be worse than before.
“Not that they appreciate the current regime, nuance Myriam Benraad, but the EU and the United States are a little disillusioned.
There is a disenchantment with the uprisings that were to lead to a democratization of the countries of the Middle East”.
Besides sanctions, what can the West do to prevent these abuses?
Moreover, the sanctions imposed on Iran have no effect on the policy pursued by the regime.
Already under American sanctions for decades as part of its nuclear development, Tehran manages to circumvent them, they have become normalized.
"The sanctions are important but not to the point of preventing the repression of the regime or of having cut off Iran's room for maneuver over its neighbours", analyzes Myriam Benraad.
Our file on Iran
So what other solution does the West have left to limit this bloody repression against a people who are demanding their freedom?
"Weapons," slices the professor of international relations.
The only way for the Democrats to take power is through armed confrontation.
They could thus send weapons to the demonstrators because this movement wants the skin of the regime.
However, Myriam Benraad does not believe in this solution "because we do not know what would come out of it".
“The end of the regime would not necessarily mean democracy.
A shipment of arms to the demonstrators would also involve Western countries in the conflict.
And the Syrian precedent, again, does not motivate the international community to repeat this action.
Finally, "no one really cares what the protesters become",
according to Myriam Benraad.
They are alone in their fight against the murderous regime.
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