Iran sanctions Europeans over criticism of protest crackdown

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has announced sanctions targeting more than 30 European individuals and entities. It portrays Wednesday’s move as a response to recent European sanctions against officials linked to a crackdown on nationwide protests. Those targeted with Iranian sanctions include Britain’s attorney general and army chief of staff, several European parliamentarians and European military officials. Also targeted are the French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy and three senior staffers at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which recently published a series of cartoons lampooning Iran’s clerical rulers. The move came two days after the European Union widened its sanctions to target dozens of Iranian officials and organizations linked to the violent suppression of recent protests.