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Adopted text, 12 February 2026

Systemic oppression, inhumane conditions and arbitrary detentions by the regime in Iran

Document TA-10-2026-0046 · P10_TA(2026)0046 · PE782.073

On Parliament’s site PDF Word

AI:In short

The European Parliament resolution condemns the Iranian regime's systemic oppression, arbitrary detentions, torture, and killings, and expresses solidarity with the Iranian people. It demands the release of all arbitrarily detained persons, including foreign and dual nationals, and calls for accountability through international judicial mechanisms. It urges expanded EU sanctions against those responsible, including IRGC members, and calls for protection and humanitarian assistance for those at risk.

Key points

  1. Expresses solidarity with the Iranian people and supports their right to live without Islamist coercion.
  2. Deplores the use of arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killings and the death penalty; calls for the immediate abolition of the death penalty.
  3. Calls on the regime to halt all violence against civilians, stop executions, end repression, and release all arbitrarily detained persons.
  4. Urges authorities to stop targeting doctors and healthcare workers for treating injured protesters.
  5. Calls for independent documentation of atrocities by UN bodies and accountability through international judicial mechanisms, including ICC referral.
  6. Deplores targeting of protesters, activists, journalists, human rights defenders, foreign and dual nationals, women, minorities and communities; calls for release of those detained for ethnicity or religion.
  7. Urges the Council and Member States to expand targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, against those responsible, including IRGC members and officials.
  8. Condemns Iran's election as Vice-Chair of the UN Commission for Social Development and the UN Secretary-General's congratulatory message.
  9. Condemns oppression of women and calls for immediate release of all women in detention, especially Narges Mohammadi.
  10. Condemns hostage diplomacy and urges the EU and Member States to develop a counter-strategy to assist families and prevent further hostage-taking.
  11. Calls for EU and Member States to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people at risk and support restoring internet access.

Who is affected

  • The Iranian people, including protesters, activists, journalists, human rights defenders, women, minorities, and foreign and dual nationals.
  • Doctors and healthcare workers in Iran who treat injured protesters.
  • IRGC members, political leaders, prosecutors, prison and security officials responsible for abuses.
  • Detainees' families and potential hostages of Iran's hostage diplomacy.

Figures and deadlines

  • Death toll estimates during recent protests range from several thousand to over 35,000.

Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem

Full text

Text 22 paragraphs

European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2026 on the systemic oppression, inhumane conditions and arbitrary detentions by the regime in Iran (2026/2612(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

–having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas the Islamic Republic engages in the systematic oppression of its people through arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, the death penalty, sexual violence, collective punishment and inhumane detention conditions;

B.whereas estimates of the death toll during the recent protests range from several thousand to over 35 000, including women, children and elderly people; whereas EU citizens are among the victims;

C.whereas tens of thousands of arbitrary arrests have been made, with the true scale underreported; whereas detainees are held without access to lawyers, family or adequate medical care, and are subjected to torture, ill-treatment through sleep deprivation and other abuses, and coerced confessions;

D.whereas the documented acts meet the threshold for crimes against humanity;

E.whereas Iran engages in transnational repression through coercion by proxy, including in the case of Mohammad Amer Dadafarzin, the son of human rights defender Fariba Baloch, who has been held in arbitrary detention and tortured in retaliation for his mother’s human rights work and testimony before the European Parliament;

F.whereas the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) plays a central role in the repression, operating with impunity; whereas the EU has designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation;

1.Expresses solidarity with the Iranian people and reaffirms that they are the sole legitimate source of sovereignty in Iran; supports the Iranian people who seek freedom and the right to live without Islamist coercion;

2.Deplores the regime’s systematic use of arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killings and the death penalty as instruments of repression; calls for the immediate abolition of the death penalty;

Read the rest (10 paragraphs)

3.Calls on the regime to halt all violence against civilians, stop all executions and end the repression; demands the release of all persons in arbitrary detention, including foreign and dual nationals;

4.Urges the authorities to stop targeting doctors and healthcare workers for treating injured protesters;

5.Calls for atrocities to be independently documented by UN bodies and for evidence to be preserved for future prosecutions; stresses the need for accountability through international judicial mechanisms, including for the UN Security Council to refer Iran to the ICC;

6.Deplores the regime’s targeting of protesters, activists, journalists, human rights defenders, foreign and dual nationals, women, minorities and communities, including Kurds, Baluchis, Ahwazi Arabs, Baha’is and Christians among others; calls for the release of those detained solely for their ethnicity or religious beliefs;

7.Urges the Council and the Member States to expand targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, against those responsible for the abuses, including IRGC members and political leaders, prosecutors, and prison and security officials, and to enforce the sanctions and prevent circumvention;

8.Strongly condemns the election of the Islamic Republic of Iran as Vice-Chair of the UN Commission for Social Development and deplores reports that the UN Secretary-General sent a congratulatory message to the regime on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which legitimises a government responsible for mass killings, torture and arbitrary detentions and undermines international accountability;

9.Condemns the oppression of women and calls for the immediate release of all women in detention, especially Nobel Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi;

10.Condemns Iranian authorities’ deliberate use of hostage diplomacy; urges the EU and its Member States to develop a counter-strategy to assist detainees’ families and prevent further hostage-taking;

11.Calls for the EU and its Member States to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people facing a serious risk to life, and to support solutions to restore internet access;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, the Member States, the UN and the Iranian authorities.