US Imposes Sanctions on 12 Iranian Officials for Human Rights Abuses

The United States has imposed sanctions on 12 Iranian officials for their involvement in human rights abuses, including violent crackdowns on protesters, torture of prisoners, and attacks on Iranian dissidents abroad.

The sanctions were announced on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in the custody of Iran’s “moral police,” which sparked massive protests across the country. Ahead of the anniversary, the Iranian government increased its repression against peaceful protesters.

“In the two years since the senseless murder of Mahsa Zhina Amini at the hands of Iran’s so-called Moral Police, the regime has continued to systematically violate the human rights of the Iranian people,” said a State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller. “The United States remains committed to exposing and sanctioning Iranian officials responsible for human rights abuses.”

Continuation of Human Rights Abuses

A senior State Department official noted that despite a new Iranian president and leadership, the country continues to see a continuation of human rights abuses. “It’s important to remember that even though there’s a new Iranian president, a new Iranian leadership, we’re seeing a continuation of this kind of human rights abuse.”

“It is important that the international community judges this administration by its actions and not its words,” said Victoria Taylor, deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran.

Targeted Officials

The new sanctions target four members of Iran’s security forces who took part in the violent conflict in 2022 and coerced confessions from operatives. A second agent, Mustafa Bazvand, led the forces responsible for “killing at least one person and arresting several journalists involved in the violence.”

Four officials who have committed human rights abuses inside Iranian prisons are also being targeted. Alireza Babaei Farsani oversees the state prison where Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi was held and tortured “with the aim of forcing him to make a confession on television.” Ahmad Reza Azadeh runs a prison where at least one person who took part in the Amini protests faces “imminent execution” for their part.

“During Azadeh’s tenure as director of Shiban Prison, prison guards on several occasions used live ammunition and tear gas against inmates protesting inadequate prison conditions,” the Treasury Department said. “Shiban prisoners were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, denied medical care and blamed for the deaths of prisoners by the security forces.”

Targeting Iranian Dissidents Abroad

The last four officers were punished for their part in the targeting of Iranian dissidents abroad. Yahya Hosseini Panjaki “played a role in the attempted bombing of a meeting of Iranian dissidents in Paris, among other operations in Europe,” the Treasury Department said.

Javad Ghaffarhaddadi is the head of the Special Operations department of the Iranian Intelligence Organization. That unit “played a key role in targeting critics of the Iranian regime abroad, including the 2019 kidnapping of journalist and political refugee Ruhollah Zam from France, which ultimately led to his execution in Iran.”

Ensuring Access to Information

In addition to sanctions, Taylor noted that the United States is also “very focused on how we can make sure that the people of Iran have access to the free flow of information and the Internet.”