US sanctions Iran's interior minister and police chief
The US Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions on some officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A number of officials in the Islamic Republic were included in the sanctions list on charges of violently suppressing peaceful demonstrations and ordering the shooting of protesters.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has announced that Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Ashtarifard, the Commander of the National Security Agency, and a number of senior officials of the National Security Agency have been blacklisted for human rights violations.
The accusations against the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic and senior NAJA forces of violently suppressing the peaceful protests of the Iranian people in November 2019 have been announced.
Rahmani Fazli, Ashtari Fard, and other senior officials of the Islamic Republic's law enforcement forces have been accused of gross human rights violations.
In addition, in the statement by the US Treasury Department, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic is accused of giving the order to shoot protesters in November 2019.
The US Treasury Department statement said that a large number of protesters were killed by police firing. In addition, it was said that at least 23 of the victims of the violent repression of these protests were children and adolescents.
US protests against violent repression
The US Treasury Department has announced that the country will place any individual or entity that attempts to suppress peaceful protests on its sanctions list.
In addition to the names of Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and Hossein Ashtarifard, Commander of the Islamic Republic's Police Force, the US sanctions list also includes the names of several other individuals.
Among them are Ayub Soleimani, deputy commander of NAJA, Mohammad Ali Nourinejad, deputy coordinator of NAJA, Hamidreza Eshraq, deputy legal and parliamentary affairs of NAJA, Habil Darvish, a person associated with NAJA's cooperative foundation, Mohsen Fathizadeh, head of NAJA's security and intelligence organization, Yahya Mahmoudzadeh, deputy planning and budget of NAJA, and Hassan Shahorpour, commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Khuzestan.
The new US sanctions list specifically mentions the Naja Cooperative Foundation. The US Treasury Department statement states that the Naja Cooperative Foundation is active in the energy, banking, and technology sectors, among other areas.
Based on US sanctions policies, not only are the assets of these individuals in the United States frozen, but no American citizen can engage in economic cooperation with sanctioned individuals.
In addition, banks and institutions in other countries are also prohibited from cooperating with these individuals. The US Treasury Department statement stated that dealing with and cooperating with the aforementioned individuals could also have sanctions consequences for companies and economic and financial institutions in other countries.
Source: DW
