US Targets Iranian Officials and Companies in Imposition of New Sanctions
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Iranian officials and companies over allegations of serious human rights violations, increasing pressure on Tehran for its crackdown on a series of protests as Washington marked International Women’s Day.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement it was imposing sanctions on two senior Iranian prison officials accused of being responsible for serious human rights violations against women and girls.
Washington also imposed sanctions on an Iranian military commander, a senior official in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an official linked to efforts by the Iranian government to block access to the internet. According to the statement, three Iranian companies and their leaders who enabled the repression of Iranian law enforcement were also subject to sanctions.
The move marked the 10th round of US sanctions against Iran since Tehran’s crackdown on a wave of protests that began after Mahsa Amini, a woman from Iran’s Kurdistan region, died in the custody of the moral police that enforce a strict dress code in September last year. .
The protest by Iranians from all walks of life marked one of the boldest challenges to the theocratic government in power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran has accused Western powers of fomenting unrest, which security forces responded with violence that resulted in many deaths.
“The United States, along with our partners and allies, stands with Iranian women who advocate for fundamental liberties in the face of a brutal regime that treats women as second citizens and (opposes) any attempt to muffle women’s voices in any way,” said Undersecretary of Treasury for US Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Service Brian Nelson in a statement.[my/lt]
