The United States has designated 12 individuals in connection with Iran's violent and coercive tactics, both within and outside the country. This move is coordinated with Australia and Canada, which are also implementing new sanctions against those responsible for human rights abuses in Iran this week.
Today's actions target members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, officials of Iran's Prisons Organization, and those involved in lethal operations overseas. Certain individuals sanctioned today were implicated in human rights abuses such as the deaths and violent repression of prisoners protesting their conditions, the use of torture and sexual assault against prisoners, denial of medical care to political prisoners, and the kidnapping of regime critics abroad.
In the two years since Mahsa Zhina Amini’s death while in custody of Iran's Morality Police, the Iranian regime has continued to violate systematically the human rights of its people. Mahsa’s arrest and subsequent death for challenging mandatory hijab laws sparked a nationwide movement under the call: “Woman, Life, Freedom.” The Iranian government responded with brutal suppression that included murder, torture, sexual violence, and other repressive acts. The United States remains committed to exposing and sanctioning Iranian officials responsible for these human rights abuses.
"Our sanctions actions are just one of the many ways the United States supports the human rights of the Iranian people," stated Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller. Over the past year, the United States led efforts to renew mandates for both a UN Special Rapporteur and a Fact-Finding Mission on Iran's human rights situation. These initiatives aim to document crimes committed by the Iranian regime and ensure future accountability.
Additionally, efforts continue to provide millions of Iranians access to global internet services through support for anti-censorship tools that enable fundamental freedoms of expression and speech.
"The voices of the Iranian people demanding basic freedoms deserve to be heard," Miller added. "The United States will continue to work with our allies and partners to promote accountability for the regime’s human rights abuses."
The Department of Treasury's sanctions actions were executed pursuant to Executive Order 13553.
For further details on these measures, see Treasury’s press release.
