As Tehran’s Islamist rulers continue to deal with ongoing domestic turmoil, the United States and its allies piled on further sanctions against the country on Monday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, five of its board members, four top IRGC commanders, and Iran’s deputy minister of intelligence and security would all be subject to penalties, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The Treasury Department stated in a news release that the action was coordinated with Britain and the European Union.
The actions imply that the United States and its allies think Iran’s leadership is still especially vulnerable as a result of a mid-September-starting internal protest movement. U.S. sanctions relating to Iran’s repression of demonstrators are currently in their ninth iteration.
However, despite years of Western sanctions, Iran’s clerical establishment has persevered. Additionally, the protest movement seems to be waning as a result of the Iranian government’s harsh measures, which have included public executions.
According to American officials, the international community must take severe action in response to Iran’s violations of human rights.
In a news release, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson stated, “With our partners, we will continue to hold the Iranian regime accountable so long as it relies upon violence, sham trials, the execution of protestors, and other means of suppressing its people.
Naser Rashedi, the deputy minister, Hossein Tanavar, the IRGC commander in Kermanshah’s West Region Headquarters, Mohammad Nazar Azimi, Kourosh Asiabani, the IRGC deputy commander in the West Region, and Mojtaba Fada, the IRGC commander in Isfahan Province are among those sanctioned.
The U.S. sanctions are being implemented in accordance with human rights-related legislative frameworks. The IRGC Cooperative Foundation was previously classified under counterproliferation and counterterrorism laws, according to the State Department.
Last September, protests broke out all throughout Iran in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who had been detained and brutally beaten over allegations that she had not properly adhered to Iran’s Islamist-influenced dress code, which mandates that women cover their hair.
The Iranian government has executed a few demonstrators publicly and condemned others to death, notably by leaving the victims’ bodies hanging from cranes.
According to commentators and media accounts, the street protests appear to have drastically decreased, suggesting that the killings may have had a chilling effect. However, the demonstrations continue in other areas, notably Zahedan, the provincial capital of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan.