WASHINGTON (AP) December,21— The Biden administration on Wednesday slapped sanctions on Iran’s chief prosecutor, four other Iranian officials and a company that supports the country’s security forces for their roles in an ongoing violent crackdown on anti-government protests.
The Treasury Department announced it is targeting the Prosecutor-General of Iran, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, two senior commanders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, and two members of the Basij, a paramilitary volunteer group that often enforces strict rules on dress and conduct.
“We denounce the Iranian regime’s intensifying use of violence against its own people who are advocating for their human rights,” Treasury said in a statement, noting that Montazeri has presided over prosecutions of protesters some of whom have been executed or condemned to death.
It identified the IRGC commanders as Hassan Hassanzadeh, the head of its forces in Tehran, and Seyed Sadegh Hosseini, who runs its Beit-al Moghadas Corps of Kurdistan province. The two Basij members are the group’s deputy coordinator, Hossein Maroufi, and Moslem Moein, its cyberspace chief, it said. The Ministry of Finance said it would also punish the Imen Sanat Zaman Fara Company, which manufactures armored vehicles and other equipment for the security forces. The sanctions freeze any assets the target may have in U.S. jurisdictions and prevent Americans from doing business with them.
Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of his 22-year-old Murthy Amini, who died after being arrested by moral police. The protests have since evolved into one of the most serious challenges to the theocracy installed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Security forces cracked down on the protests, killing more than 500 protesters and arresting more than 18,000, according to Iranian human rights activists. More than 60 security forces were killed, according to the group.
“The United States continues to support the Iranian people in the face of this brutal crackdown and is building an international consensus to hold the regime accountable,” said Secretary of State Antony Brinken. rice field.
