EU–Iran at a Crossroads Iran’s Escalating Threat and the Strategic Role of the EU/ Nasser Boladai
The first time I spoke in a European country’s parliament at a conference on Iran as a Baloch political and human rights activist was in the Danish Parliament in 2003. One of the topics I raised was the EU’s “Critical Dialogue,” which was later renamed the “Comprehensive Dialogue” after President Khatami came to power.
In parallel to the European Union’s policy of engagement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, first through the Critical Dialogue and later through the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — initiatives that were intended to moderate the regime’s behavior by curbing its nuclear ambitions, encouraging compliance with international norms, and improving its human rights record — Iran has simultaneously escalated its repression of its own population, waged proxy conflicts across the Middle East, and exported terrorism into Europe. In today’s remarks, I will present how, throughout this period, Iran has continued to intensify grave human rights violations and other destabilizing activities, particularly targeting ethnic and religious minorities under the pretext of security concerns.
While the EU was pursuing the Critical Dialogue, Iran assassinated Kurdish leaders on September 17, 1992, at the Mykonos Greek restaurant in Berlin. Despite the German government’s reluctance, an independent judiciary in Germany conducted a trial and found that the assassination had been ordered at the highest level of the Iranian government by then-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader Khamenei.
After the assassination of the Kurdish Democratic Party leaders and the German court’s verdict, the EU suspended the Critical Dialogue, initiating a diplomatic crisis. The EU recalled its ambassador. With oil prices falling, Iran was in a dire economic situation.
The late 1980s and early 1990s were also a landmark year in the number of executions of Baloch prisoners. Amnesty International, in a written statement to the 47th session of the United Nations, stated: “In Baluchistan a clamp down on the Baluchi National Movement appears to have been coupled with the continuing campaign against drug-trafficking blurring distinctions between prisoners detained for political activities and those arrested for participation in illegal smuggling activities.” [1] To minimize sympathy and demonize Baloch,the regime uses drag smuggling to murder Baloch.
As Khatami became president, the EU resumed diplomatic ties, abandoning the Critical Dialogue in favor of the Comprehensive Dialogue, hoping the so-called “reformists” would transform Iran into a more normal state. However, opposition groups, including myself, warned that this was not a genuine policy change. It was rather a temporary pause for Iran to rearm and resume its internal suppression and regional interference.
During Khatami’s presidency, while EU states were re-engaging with Iran, the Iranian regime was secretly developing nuclear facilities. Intelligence reports later revealed that, up until 2003, Iran was actively working toward acquiring nuclear weapons. In 2002, it was exposed that Iran had been enriching uranium, triggering another crisis with the EU and international community.
Khatami’s presidency was also marked by brutal repression in Balochistan. Public hangings from cranes became a regular event in cities like Zahedan. Human rights organizations reported widespread arbitrary arrests and detentions of young Baloch men on vague charges such as drug trafficking or national security offenses. These arrests were often made without warrants or proper legal procedures.
After September 11, while President Khatami agreed to cooperate to some extent with the United Nations and the international coalition in the war against terrorism, Iran actually became a safe haven for fleeing al Qaeda members.
At the same time, there were reports that Iran was helping to train members of its former enemy, the Taliban, to attack and kill the international coalition’s forces led by the United States to destabilize the new republic in Afghanistan.
Iraq, through its proxies, gave false information to the US and other Western intelligence services and politicians to convince them that Saddam was a threat to world peace and that Iraq was arming itself with weapons of mass destruction, which led to the second Gulf war.
The government in Iran played a double role: through its allies, it took control of the Iraq government; and at the same time, it created militias, armed and trained them to attack the Western coalition in Iraq — particularly US forces — to stop Iraq’s progress towards economic prosperity stability and democracy.
Iran’s economic crisis once again forced it to sign the “Tehran Agreement” in October 2003, under which Iran suspended uranium enrichment. The EU welcomed this and resumed friendly relations with Iran. However, while appearing cooperative, Iran was secretly constructing the Fordow underground nuclear facility, which was publicly revealed by Western leaders in September 2009.
Iran, once again, was under pressure after this revelation and severed ties but Western countries and the United States were secretly talking with the Iranian government to find a way to a deal which later showed that was not to benefit People in Iran nor regional stability but to help empower and strengthen the regime and its proxies in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, to Lebanon and in Gaza.
Meanwhile, during the 2009 presidential election protests following the disputed reelection of Ahmadinejad, demonstrators in Iran chanted, “Obama, are you with us or with them?” hoping for Western support. Instead, Western countries—led by the U.S.—were secretly negotiating with Iran, ignoring the people’s cries for help. Once again, the Iranian people were left alone.
Before the Green Movement gained momentum, protests erupted in Balochistan, leading to the mass arrest of hundreds of Baloch protesters. In the summer of 2009, as protests intensified across the country, the regime executed 19 Baloch prisoners in Zahedan following secret trials without access to lawyers. They were accused of “Moharebeh”—enmity against God.
Amnesty International reported in 2009: “112 people were put to death in the eight weeks between the June election and the re-inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in early August—almost a third of the total for the entire year.” Thirty-three of those executed were Baloch.
Under Rouhani’s presidency, executions increased again. The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center reported 529 executions in 2013 alone, with more than 370 occurring after Rouhani took office. Over 100 of those executed were Baloch. In Rouhani’s first month, 15 Baloch were murdered through targeted assassinations or extra-judicial killings by regime forces.
Despite economic crises and sanctions, Rouhani increased the budgets of the IRGC, intelligence services, and security forces by 35%, showing that the regime prioritized repression and nuclear development over people’s welfare.
Even after receiving funds from the JCPOA, Iran did not use the resources to improve citizens’ lives. Instead, the money funded Iran’s proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen and further suppressed domestic dissent.
Rouhani’s government economic mismanagement and corruption led to a chain of protests including the December 2017–January 2018 protests and the November 2019 uprising, where fuel price hikes triggered nationwide unrest. According to Reuters, more than 1,500 people were killed during the crackdown.
The Ahvaz water protests in July 2021 also showed how Iran’s failures impacted ordinary people, especially in marginalized provinces.
This demonstrates that access money does not benefit the Iranian people—it strengthens the regime’s capacity to oppress and kill.
After the JCPOA, emboldened by Western appeasement, Iran reactivated terrorist cells in Europe. One major incident was the failed plot of 2018 to bomb a MEK rally in Paris, attended by former U.S., Canadian, British, and Italian officials. Two opposition figures were also assassinated in the Netherlands.
The Syrian peoples’ uprising to change the Assad regime was stalled due to the axis of the Assad regime, Iran and Russia’s brutal suppression, which resulted in thousands of Syrians killed and many more displaced internally or to neighboring countries and to Europe, leading to a major refugee crisis for Europe.
Following Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, European countries remained committed to it. But Iran began to increasingly violate its terms. The election of President Biden gave Iran new leverage. It negotiated indirectly with the U.S. through Europe but used the time to increase uranium enrichment. Meanwhile, executions and repression continued.
The Iranian government together with Norh Korea is one of few countries that is a close ally of Putin’s Russia. It has supplied Russia with missiles and drones to bomb Ukrainian cities and to kill civilians, create destabilization in Europe and help Putin’s imperial ambitions.
The current Iranian government is not only oppressive internally, but it is a destabilizing force for the region and internationally. It is also a danger to Europe’s security as it has shown this many times.
It has not only tried to assassinate dual European Iranian citizens in European soil but also tried to bomb events, like in Paris, and has chosen Putin’s side and helped to kill Ukraine civilian to destabilize Europe.
Meanwhile, in 2023, over 186 Baloch were executed. Though Baloch make up only 4–5% of Iran’s population, they accounted for 20–30% of executions. In 2024, 111 Baloch were executed. In the first half of 2025, 85 Baloch have been executed.
In any event, including elections or New Year’s, the Iranian government increases its executions and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, since it feels that executing or killing Baloch has no consequences for its regime.
The Women, Life, Freedom movement was a nationwide attempt to challenge the regime. Despite large protests in regions like Balochistan and Kurdistan—including Zahedan’s Bloody Friday on 30 September and Khash’s Bloody Friday—the regime brutally suppressed demonstrators, killing over 100 people. These events constitute crimes against humanity. The Baloch community was among the most active in the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
More recently, Iran’s support for proxies like Hezbollah and allies like Hamas led to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, triggering a war in June 2025. Despite its defeat and humiliation, the regime still insists on uranium enrichment, leaving no doubt about its ambition to develop nuclear weapons.
Since the ceasefire that ended the Iran-Israel conflict, the regime has intensified its targeting of Baloch people. According to Balochistan Human Rights Group, around 60 Baloch have been arrested and accused of being Israeli spies—previously, Baloch were arrested and killed or executed accused of separatism or smuggling.
On July 1, 2025, in the small village of Gunich (population ~300) in Balochistan, IRGC-led forces claimed Israeli spies were hiding. They surrounded the village and tried to enter homes. Baloch women resisted the illegal searches. Security forces opened fire with live ammunition, killing two women and injuring ten others.
Conclusion
Neither the Critical Dialogue nor the JCPOA has stopped Iran’s repression of its people, its support for regional proxies, its terrorist activities in Europe, or its threats to European security, nor, most importantly, its ambitions to become a de facto nuclear armed power which JCPOA wanted to hinder. After military defeat by Israel, the regime has intensified repression inside Iran and insists on continuing to enrich uranium.
Iran, contrary to all common sense, has ended its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at a time when the IAEA’s presence is more important than ever — to determine what happened to 400 kilograms of enriched uranium, and to assess whether, following damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities, there is any potential for atomic radiation leakage.
Human rights organizations estimate that between 700 to 1,000 people have been arrested on charges of spying for Israel—primarily from marginalized groups such as Afghan migrants, Jews, Bahá’ís, Baloch, and Kurds. Three Kurdish Kulbars were executed on such charges. These groups, due to their marginalized status, do not have access to state secrets or intelligence; they are only used as scapegoats.
This repression is evidence that the Iranian regime is using the war as a pretext to suppress ethnic and religious minorities.
Recommendations to the European Union
The people of Iran and the EU share a mutual interest in promoting democratic transition, human rights, and regional stability. We urge the European Parliament to:
- Trigger the Snapback Mechanism under the JCPOA
Reimpose comprehensive sanctions on Iran to deny the regime access to funds used for regional warfare and domestic repression.
- Support Democratic Forces in Iran
Engage directly with civil society, human rights defenders, and opposition groups, including ethnic minorities, to build a foundation for post-authoritarian transition.
Iran’s regime understands only pressure. It must be made clear: Europe will no longer tolerate terror, repression, and deceit in the name of diplomacy.
This document was presented by Nasser Boladai in a conference of the European Parliament’s on 08 July 2025 in Strasbourg. Nasser Boladai is the General Secretary of the Balochistan Peoples Party and a member of the International Delegation of the Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran.
[1] AMNESTY INTERNATIONALS WRITTEN STATEMENT TO THE 47TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, February 1991 AI INDEX: M
