Strasbourg, October 8, 2025 — In a session on the EU’s strategy toward Iran, members of the European Parliament and senior EU officials called for a decisive shift away from appeasement, endorsing a firm sanctions policy and open support for Iran’s organized democratic opposition.
The debate, held under the title “EU Strategy on the Iranian Nuclear Threat and Sanctions under the Snapback Mechanism,” coincided with the official reimposition of UN and EU sanctions against Tehran. Danish EU Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre, whose country currently chairs the EU Council, said the decision followed Iran’s “continued and serious violations” of its international nuclear commitments.
She stressed that “Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon” and that the EU had fully reinstated all previously lifted restrictions, covering nuclear, missile, and financial sectors.
European Commissioner Jessica Roswall added that the renewed sanctions include “a binding suspension of all enrichment and reprocessing activities,” along with measures targeting ballistic programs and financial networks linked to the Iranian regime.
The #Iranian people are tired of the Mullah’s regime, which become an agent of religious fanaticism, the suppression of women’s rights, and the persecution and killing of opponents, and international terrorism. Those fighting #Teheran regime- MEK, NCRI have to acknowledged. pic.twitter.com/xdtPt0n94U
— Petras Austrevicius (@petras_petras) October 9, 2025
Lawmakers: The Real Problem Is the Regime
A cross-party group of MEPs used the session to highlight Tehran’s human rights record and call for political support to Iran’s opposition movement. Spanish MEP Javier Zarzalejos, Chair of the Civil Liberties Committee, said: “The real issue is the Iranian regime, which is a challenge that requires an entirely new approach in our policy toward Tehran. With this regime in power, there will be no peace in the region.”
He condemned the regime’s record of “over 1,000 executions in the first nine months of 2025” and questioned why its ambassadors “still operate freely in European capitals.”
Italian MEP Carlo Ciccioli welcomed the EU’s decision to reimpose sanctions after a decade, calling it “morally necessary.” He declared: “The real war, from the beginning, has been between the regime and the Iranian people — especially women. As Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, reminded us, the Iranian crisis cannot be resolved through appeasement or war. The path is change.”
Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius, Co-Chair of the Friends of a Free Iran group, said Tehran had deceived the West by pretending to cooperate on its nuclear program. “Without the initial revelations of the MEK and NCRI,” he said, “the regime would likely already possess nuclear weapons. Let’s agree that only regime change can bring stability to Iran and the region.”
Este 2025 se han producido ya más de mil ejecuciones en Irán, y mientras los embajadores iranís siguen viviendo cómodamente en nuestras capitales.
La Unión Europea debe adoptar una política de sanciones más firme.
Con el régimen iraní en el poder, no habrá paz en la región. pic.twitter.com/GzHdFVFEta
— Javier Zarzalejos (@zarzalejosj) October 9, 2025
“Appeasement Has Failed”
Milan Zver of Slovenia echoed this view, stressing that the EU must “adopt a stricter and more resolute policy toward Iran.” He credited Iran’s opposition with exposing the regime’s secret nuclear work over three decades and added: “From history, we must learn that appeasement with such a brutal regime does not work. The EU must clearly support the Iranian Resistance led by Maryam Rajavi and her Ten-Point Plan, the only credible roadmap toward a free and democratic Iran.”
The conference also heard from Juan Carlos Girauta Vidal, who denounced Tehran as “the main destabilizing force in the Middle East and the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” He recalled the 2023 assassination attempt on former Parliament Vice President Alejo Vidal-Quadras, calling for the IRGC to be blacklisted as a terrorist organization.
🇪🇺 EU mora zavzeti strožjo in odločnejšo politiko do Irana.
☢️ Že več kot trideset let iransko opozicijsko gibanje razkriva tajne jedrske aktivnosti režima. Ta razkritja so bistveno pripomogla k temu, da iranski teokratski režim doslej še ni razvil jedrskega orožja.
📜 Iz… pic.twitter.com/aEsKxHgnJe
— Milan Zver (@MilanZver) October 9, 2025
The Strasbourg session underscored a growing consensus within European institutions that the time for engagement with Tehran has ended. As one lawmaker summarized, “This is not about punishing the Iranian people — it is about holding accountable those who oppress them.”