Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has rejected a halt to deportations to Iran despite the brutal actions of Iranian security forces against protesters. “We have a strong interest in Germany in deporting criminals,” Dobrindt said on Wednesday in the Bundestag. “And that is why I am not prepared to impose a deportation ban that would allow criminals to get away.”
At the same time, Dobrindt stressed that deportations to Iran can only take place “in agreement with the situation there,” and for that reason have rarely occurred in the past. He said they also “do not play a significant role” at present.
The interior minister said he was “shocked” by the actions of Iranian authorities against the protest movement that has been ongoing for weeks. He said it was “urgently necessary” for the European Union to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. “That would be the first important step at this point,” Dobrindt said.
In Iran, there have been massive protests over the past two weeks against the Islamic government that came to power in 1979. Authorities have responded with brutal force against demonstrators. Human rights organizations fear thousands of deaths, and thousands of people have been arrested. Iran’s judiciary chief announced “public” fast-track trials on state television, while US President Donald Trump threatened the leadership in Tehran with US intervention if detained protesters are executed.
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