US sanctions Iran's security officials, communications ministers and government over crackdown on protests
On Thursday, October 5, the United States imposed sanctions on a number of senior security officials, law enforcement officials, and the ministers of communications and state of the Islamic Republic for their involvement in the suppression of Iranian protests.
According to a statement from the US Treasury Department, Vahid Majid, head of the Intelligence Production and Exchange Space Police, Yadollah Javani, deputy political officer of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Nejat, deputy commander of the IRGC at the Sarallah headquarters, Hossein Rahimi, chief of Tehran Police, Hossein Sajidinia, deputy chief of operations of the National Police Force, along with Issa Zarepour, Minister of Communications and Technology, and Ahmad Vahidi, Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, have been added to the US sanctions list.
The US Treasury Department says it has sanctioned seven Iranian officials for cutting off internet access and suppressing peaceful protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Brian Nelson, US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, said in a statement that the United States condemns the Islamic Republic of Iran's internet shutdown and its continued violent repression of peaceful protests, and will not hesitate to target those who direct and support such actions.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also tweeted on Thursday that the United States will increase the level of accountability for all those who take direct or supportive actions to deny the Iranian people's right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
He further stated that today we sanctioned seven senior officials of Iran's security apparatus who were responsible for suppressing the protests.
On September 21, the US Treasury Department also sanctioned the "moral security police" known as the "Guideline Patrol" and several Iranian officials, including Ahmad Mirzaei, head of Tehran's Guideline Patrol, and Mohammad Rostami, head of the Islamic Republic's Moral Security Police, in connection with the murder of Mahsa Amini and the bloody suppression of popular protests.
The assets of sanctioned individuals in the United States will be seized, they will be prevented from entering the United States, and financial transactions between American citizens and these individuals will also be prohibited.
On October 1, the Canadian government also announced the imposition of new sanctions against military and law enforcement institutions and figures of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, and Esmail Qaani, Commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, were among the senior military personnel targeted by the new Canadian government sanctions.
On Thursday, the European Parliament condemned the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Ershad patrol and called for sanctions against the perpetrators of the incident.
The foreign ministers of France and Germany also announced in recent days that the European Union is considering sanctions against Iranian officials involved in suppressing the recent protests in the form of "denying entry and freezing their assets."
On October 4, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian threatened the European Union that if new sanctions are imposed on Tehran in response to the suppression of protesters in Iran, European countries should expect "effective and reciprocal action" from the Islamic Republic.
Source: Radio Farda
