Washington
CNN
—
The Biden administration took action on Wednesday against several Iranian officials and entities for committing human rights abuses against women and girls in the latest round of sanctions against Tehran for his suppression of the disturbances in the country.
As the world marked International Women’s Day, Wednesday’s actions included sanctions against two senior officials in Iran’s prison system responsible for “serious” human rights abuses, according to the Treasury Department. the United States.
“The United States remains deeply concerned that Iranian authorities continue to suppress dissent and peaceful protest, including through mass arrests, mock trials, summary executions, detention of journalists, and the use of sexual violence such as” and means of suppressing protest,” said the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In coordination with the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia, the Treasury also sanctioned three Iranian companies, a top Iranian commander, a “senior” leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an official Iranian that the US government says is “central”. ” to Iran’s ability to block access to the Internet.
This is the tenth round of financial sanctions against Iran since the regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last year represented the regime’s biggest domestic threat Iranian in years. But since then, the nationwide protests that began last September have petered out in the face of a brutal wave of repression against protesters, especially women.
“The United States, along with our partners and allies, stands with the women of Iran, who stand up for fundamental freedoms in the face of a brutal regime that treats women as second-class citizens and attempts to suppress their voices by any means.” said under secretary Brian Nelson, the top Treasury official responsible for financial sanctions.
The two sanctioned prison officials, Ali Chaharmahali and Dariush Bakhshi, ran prisons where political prisoners and protesters were tortured, sexually abused and threatened with violence, according to the Treasury.
Bakhshi, according to the United States, “personally supervised” the abuse of prisoners who are held by the regime for political or religious reasons.
“Both officers were complicit in the mistreatment of detainees in their custody by security forces, including through rape, torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” Blinken said.
The sanctions also come after CNN published a extensive report last month on an unprecedented network of secret torture centers used by Iran to crush political unrest.
The three companies sanctioned on Wednesday – the Naji Pas Company, the Naji Pars Amin Institute and the Entebagh Gostar Sepehr Company – and their management helped acquire goods and material for Iran’s security services, according to the Treasury.
Other senior Iranian officials targeted by the US on Wednesday included Mahdi Amiri, who has been “central” to the regime’s internet shutdowns in the face of widespread protests, as well as Sayyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran. , and Habib Shahsavari, a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Treasury.
Troops under Mousavi’s command suppressed peaceful demonstrations in 2019 and 2022, including allegedly firing guns at protesters, and forces led by Shahsvari “arrested and tortured” people, according to the United States.
“We will continue to take action against the regime, which perpetuates abuse and violence against its own citizens, especially women and girls,” Nelson said.