G7 denounces ‘brutal’ Iran protest crackdown

Foreign ministers from the G7 group of nations on Friday condemned Tehran’s response to a wave of protests in Iran sparked by the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.

“We further condemn the brutal and disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters,” the ministers said in a statement after two days of talks in the German city of Muenster.

“We advocate the right of all Iranians to access information, and we deplore the Iranian government’s erosion of civil space, and independent journalism, its targeting of human rights defenders, including by shutting down the internet and social media,” the ministers said.

Nationwide protests have erupted in Iran since the September 16 death of Amini, 22, after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in the unrest.

The G7 also criticised Tehran’s “destabilising activities in and around the Middle East”, such as the transfer of weapons, including drones, “to state and non-state actors”.

“Such proliferation is destabilising for the region and escalates already high tensions,” they said.

Kyiv and its Western allies accuse Iran of supplying drones to Russia, but Tehran has rejected the allegations.

The G7 foreign ministers also criticised a record-breaking series of North Korean missile launches earlier this week that included a failed intercontinental ballistic missile test.

“We, the G7 members, strongly condemn the unprecedented series of unlawful ballistic missile launches,” the ministers said.