Treasury announces new sanctions on Iran amid violent response to protests

The Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions against seven senior leaders in Iran in response to the government’s violent crackdown on large-scale protests and its internet restrictions across the country.

The sanctions, which come hours after Amnesty International reported that at least 82 people had been killed in the protests, target security leaders as well as government ministers, including Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, and its minister of communications, Eisa Zarepour.

“The rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly are vital to guaranteeing individual liberty and dignity,” Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson said in a statement. “The United States condemns the Iranian government’s Internet shutdown and continued violent suppression of peaceful protest and will not hesitate to target those who direct and support such actions.”

The announcement marks the second set of sanctions the U.S. has imposed against Iranian officials after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested and accused of violating the country’s strictly imposed dress requirements for women.

The first set of sanctions, announced late last month, were imposed on Iran’s Morality Police, as well as seven other senior security officials from the country’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Army Ground Forces, the Basij Resistance Forces and the Law Enforcement Forces.

Since then, protests in the country have intensified, spreading to more than 80 cities and towns across the country, with people around the world taking to social media to voice support for the protesters.

On Monday, President Joe Biden condemned Iran’s response to protests and promised “further action” against those responsible for the violence.

“I remain gravely concerned about reports of the intensifying violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in Iran, including students and women, who are demanding their equal rights and basic human dignity," Biden said in a statement.