Members of the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the use of disproportionate force by the Islamic Republic Security forces against peaceful protesters in the recent country-wide protests in Iran.

The resolution passed on Thursday states: “The Iranian security forces used disproportionate means and force against protesters [and] according to civil society reports, Iranian security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters who did not pose any imminent risk, and allegedly shot to kill.”

The European parliament criticized the Islamic Republic’s harassment and persecution of journalists, lawyers, and activists, as well as the lack of fair trial and denial of access to legal counsel. The European legislators demanded anyone being held for “exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and assembly are freed unconditionally,” specifically naming British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained since 2016, and Iranian Human Rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, punished earlier this year with a 33-year jail sentence and 148 lashes.

Former president of Romania MEP Traian Basescu of the liberal-conservative European People’s Party accused Europe of being held hostage to the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran, which the US has already left.

“That is the fact of the matter. And that is also the reason why we pretend not to notice that in their desire to become a regional power, they are doing these things,” he said.