On September 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 12 individuals linked to the Iranian regime's violent repression of its people, both domestically and internationally. These designations target members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), officials from Iran’s Prisons Organization, and those responsible for lethal operations overseas. This action was coordinated with Canada and Australia, which have also announced new sanctions against those connected to human rights abuses in Iran.
"Two years have now passed since Mahsa Amini’s tragic death in the custody of Iran’s so-called ‘Morality Police,’ and despite the Iranian people’s peaceful calls for reform, Iran’s leaders have doubled down on the regime’s well-worn tactics of violence and coercion," said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. "The United States, along with our allies and partners, will continue to take action to expose and hold accountable those responsible for carrying out the Iranian regime’s cruel agenda."
The action is pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which imposes sanctions on certain persons concerning serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran.
Iranian security forces, including the IRGC and its Basij paramilitary force, have led a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests across cities in Iran. The IRGC units used lethal force against protestors, arrested individuals for political expression, and attempted to intimidate through violence. The IRGC was previously designated under E.O. 13553 on June 9, 2011.
Hamid Khorramdel serves as commander of the IRGC’s Fatah Corps in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province; Mustafa Bazvand commands IRGC forces in Mazandaran province; Ali Malek-Shahkoui leads IRGC operations in Golestan province; Saeed Beheshti-Rad is deputy coordinator of IRGC's Hazrat Nabi Akram Corps in Kermanshah province. These individuals are designated under E.O. 13553 for acting on behalf of or supporting the IRGC.
In Iranian prisons notorious for their cruelty, Ali Abdi oversees South Khorasan Province Prisons where numerous executions occurred without due process; Alireza Babaei Farsani directs Isfahan Province Prisons known for torture practices; Ahmad Reza Azadeh heads Sepidar Prison where inmates face severe conditions; Gholamreza Roshan manages Khuzestan Province Prisons with reports of torture and ill-treatment. These prison officials are designated under E.O. 13553 for their roles in serious human rights abuses.
Yahya Hosseini Panjaki from MOIS is linked to assassination plots abroad targeting dissidents; Javad Ghaffarhaddadi leads special operations within IRGC-Intelligence Organization involved in kidnapping critics abroad; Hamid Zareikajosangi recruits operatives for IRGC-QF known for external plotting activities; Mahmud Baghlani is an affiliate involved with similar actions. These individuals are sanctioned under E.O. 13553.
As a result of these designations, all property within U.S jurisdiction belonging to these individuals must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Non-U.S persons facilitating transactions with these designees may also face sanctions.
OFAC emphasizes that sanctions aim not only at punishment but fostering positive behavioral change by encouraging compliance through potential removal from sanction lists upon review.
For detailed information regarding today’s designations or removal processes from OFAC lists, refer to OFAC's official guidelines online.
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