This article examines the evolving role of the EP in shaping the European Union's human rights approach toward Iran, focusing on the period from 2016 to 2023. Drawing on the conceptual frameworks of Normative Power Europe and Legislative Diplomacy, it explores how the EP has responded to increasing repression in Iran through non-binding resolutions that aim to exert normative pressure. Using thematic and discursive analysis of EP resolutions towards Iran, the study identifies three core areas of advocacy, women's rights, freedom of expression and assembly, and judicial repression, and assesses how the EP's language and policy demands have intensified over time. The findings support three hypotheses: that the EP adopts increasingly assertive and universalist rhetoric in response to human rights violations; that it escalates calls for sanctions during crises; and that it prioritises themes resonating with EU public values. The article argues that, despite lacking formal foreign policy powers, the EP plays a strategic role in EU external relations by shaping discourse, framing institutional responses, and reinforcing the EU's identity as a normative global actor.
Abdollah Baei Lashaki (Tue,) studied this question.