U.S. slaps sanctions on Iranian officials over protest crackdown

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Iran, targeting Iranian officials and entities over internet censorship and a crackdown on protesters following the death of a young woman in the custody of the morality police.

Demonstrations ignited by 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s death in custody on Sept. 16 have become one of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials, provincial and Iranian prison officials, as well as two entities accused of “efforts to disrupt digital freedom” in Iran.

The action targets Hedayat Farzadi, who the Treasury accused of operating Evin prison, which mostly holds political prisoners, and where Washington said numerous protesters have been sent. Seyyed Heshmatollah Hayat Al-Ghaib, the director-general of Tehran Province Prisons – which the Treasury said gave him oversight of Evin – was also named.

The commander of the IRGC intelligence organization, Mohammad Kazemi, and Abbas Nilforushan, the deputy commander for IRGC operations, as well as other officials were also named.

The U.S. action freezes any U.S. assets belonging to those named and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.

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