US sanctions 12 Iranian individuals and entities over crackdown on protests
The US Treasury Department has added eight Iranian individuals and four entities to its sanctions list for their crackdown on protesters and human rights abuses. The NAJA Special Forces and the Provincial Guards Special Forces have been sanctioned.
The US Treasury Department announced in a statement that it has sanctioned 15 individuals and four entities in Iran, Syria, and Uganda for human rights violations and the suppression of protesters.
According to Reuters, 8 Iranian individuals and 4 entities have been added to the list of individuals and entities sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is a subsidiary of the ministry, due to human rights violations.
The US Treasury Department stated on its website that these sanctions include the Special Operations Unit (NAJA) and the Special Counter-Terrorism Forces (NOPO), also known as the Special Counter-Terrorism Forces (Special Forces of the Provincial Guard), and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij Mostazafan Organization.
Isfahan Central Prison and Zahedan Prison have also been added to the list of institutions under OFAC sanctions.
According to this report, Reza Mousavi Azami, commander of the NAJA special unit, and Mohsen Ebrahimi, commander of NOPO, are among the individuals sanctioned.
Leila Wasighi, the governor of Quds City (Qala Hassan Khan), who ordered the shooting of protesters during the November 2019 protests, has been placed on the US blacklist.
Ali Hemtian and Masoud Safdari, from the Revolutionary Guards, Hassan Karami, commander of the Special Unit of the Police Force, Soghari Khodadadi, head of Qarchak Prison, and Mohammad Karami, commander of the IRGC's southeastern Quds base, are among the other individuals targeted by the new US sanctions.
These individuals and entities have been placed on the US sanctions list, citing the Magnitsky and Katsa Acts.
Under the Magnitsky Act, which was passed by the US Congress in 2012, the US government can impose restrictive regulations on foreign human rights violators in the US, even if the victim is not a citizen or the human rights violation was not reported on its territory.
The CATSA Act was passed by a unanimous vote of the United States Congress and Senate during the Donald Trump era against Iran, Russia, and North Korea, in order to counter what has been called the dangerous and hostile actions of these countries towards the United States and its allies through sanctions.
Source: DW
