"Treasury Department Issues Sanctions on Iranian Officials to Punish Protest Crackdown!"
Published: 22-12-2022 04:16
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Treasury announced a new round of sanctions against Iran's Prosecutor General and top military officials in response to the Iranian government's harsh crackdown on recent protests.
The protests began in late November of 2019, when Iranians took to the streets to demonstrate against rising fuel prices. The demonstrations soon spread throughout the country, becoming some of the largest anti-government protests in decades. In response, authorities responded with a violent crackdown, resulting in hundreds of arrests and multiple deaths.
The Treasury's action is aimed at holding Iranian leaders accountable for their repressive tactics. The sanctions target Iran's Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri and several high-ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its commander-in-chief Major General Hossein Salami and deputy commander Brigadier General Gholamali Rashid. The individuals are now subject to asset freezes and travel bans under US law.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted that "Iran’s leadership has chosen to suppress peaceful protests by detaining demonstrators and imposing oppressive restrictions on its people” adding that “the United States will continue to take action against human rights abusers in Iran who are responsible for this violence."
In addition to these latest sanctions, the US has also imposed additional economic penalties on Iran over its nuclear program. While these most recent sanctions do not directly target those activities, they demonstrate Washington’s continued commitment to holding Iranian leaders accountable for their human rights abuses.
