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The Treasury Department seen in Washington, DC on January 18, 2023.
Washington
CNN
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The Biden administration on Wednesday took motion towards a number of Iranian officers and entities accountable for human rights abuses towards girls and ladies in its newest spherical of sanctions towards Iran over its counterinsurgency.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, Wednesday’s actions embrace sanctions towards two senior officers in Iran’s jail system who’re accountable for “critical” human rights abuses, in keeping with the U.S. Treasury Department.
The Treasury Department is working with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Australia to sanction three Iranian firms, Iran’s prime commander, a “high-ranking” chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and a senior Iranian official whom the U.S. authorities claims is a “key determine.” There is. ” towards Iran’s potential to dam web entry.
This is the tenth monetary sanctions towards Iran because the regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceable protests posed its largest home risk in years after the dying of 22-year-old Martha Amini final 12 months. . But since then, the nationwide protests that started final September have subsided within the face of a wave of brutal repression towards protesters, notably girls.
“The United States, together with our companions and allies, stands behind Iranian girls who’re advocating for his or her elementary freedoms within the face of a brutal regime that treats them as second-class residents and seeks to suppress their voices in any respect prices. We assist it,” mentioned Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s prime official accountable for monetary sanctions.
Sanctioned jail officers Ali Chahalmahari and Dariush Bakshi run prisons the place political prisoners and protesters are subjected to torture, sexual abuse and violent threats, in keeping with the Treasury Department. It’s right here.
The US says Bakshi “personally supervises” the abuse of prisoners held by the regime for political or spiritual causes.
“Both officers have been complicit within the abuse of prisoners in safety forces’ custody, together with rape, torture, and different merciless, inhuman, and degrading remedy,” Blinken mentioned.
The sanctions additionally come after CNN revealed an in depth report final month into an unprecedented community of secret torture facilities utilized by Iran to quell political unrest.
The three firms sanctioned on Wednesday, Naji Pars Company, Naji Pars Amin Research Institute and Enteberg Goster Seper Company, are firms whose management is accountable for Iran’s safety companies, in keeping with the Treasury Department. It is alleged that they’ve contributed to the procurement of products and provides.
Other Iranian officers focused by the US on Wednesday embrace Mahdi Amiri, the “key man” within the regime’s web shutdown within the face of widespread protests, and Sayyed Amiri, the commander in chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces. Includes Abdulrahim Mousavi. Habib Shasavari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in keeping with the Ministry of Finance.
The US says troops underneath Mousavi have crushed peaceable demonstrations in 2019 and 2022, firing at demonstrators, and forces led by Shasvari have “detained and tortured” individuals.
“We will proceed to take motion towards regimes that perpetuate abuse and violence towards their very own individuals, particularly girls and ladies,” Nelson mentioned.