WASHINGTON: The U.S. sanctioned four senior Iranian officials it said were responsible for the “brutal suppression” of protests that erupted last year against Tehran’s morality police for the arrest and death of a young woman detained for not properly wearing a hajib.
The U.S. also sanctioned a fifth official it said has blocked popular online news sites and spying on journalists and dissidents.
The Treasury Department action was the 11th time the U.S. has blacklisted Iranian officials linked to the death last September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
The move was in coordination with Britain, which also imposed similar sanctions against senior Iranian officials.
Several hundred Iranian protesters have been killed in the street demonstrations, along with a much smaller number of security agents and police.
“The Iranian people deserve freedom of expression without the threat of violent retaliation and censorship from those in power,” Treasury official Brian Nelson said in a statement.
“Along with our key allies and partners, such as the United Kingdom, the United States will continue to take action against those responsible for the regime’s violent repression and censorship.”
The sanctions block the Iranian officials from use of any U.S. funds and property they may own and prohibits Americans from doing business with them.
The U.S. identified those blacklisted as Parviz Absalan, Amanollah Goshtasbi and Ahmed Seyedoshohada of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Salman Adinehvand, the commander of the Tehran Police Relief Unit, the primary security organization in charge of crowd control and protest suppression, and cyberspace chief Seyyed Aghamiri.
(VOA)
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