US announces new Iran sanctions over 'human rights abuses'

International community is trying to maintain pressure on Tehran over repression of protests after death of Mahsa Amini in 2022

A mural in Washington depicts Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked mass protests in Iran. Joshua Longmore / The National

The US on Wednesday imposed new sanctions against 12 people involved with “violent and coercive tactics” used against Iranians domestically and internationally since the mass protest movement that began in 2022.

“Today’s actions target members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, officials of Iran’s Prisons Organisation and those responsible for lethal operations overseas,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“Certain individuals sanctioned today were responsible for human rights abuses, including those involving the deaths and violent repression of prisoners protesting their conditions, the use of torture and sexual assault against prisoners, the denial of medical care to political prisoners and the kidnapping of regime critics abroad.”

The US Treasury Department said that Hamis Khorramdel, Mustafa Bazvand, Ali Malek-Shahkoui and Saeed Beheshti-Rad of the IRGC have been hit with sanctions over “the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on peaceful protests”.

Ali Abdi, Alireza Babaei Farsani, Ahmad Reza Azadeh and Gholamreza Roshan were also issued with sanctions for their roles in alleged human rights abuses in Iran's prison system.

“Our sanctions actions are just one of the many ways the United States supports the human rights of the Iranian people,” Mr Miller said.

Thousands protested against the government in Iran in 2022 after the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was detained for wearing her hijab “inappropriately”. The protest movement led to mass arrests, long prison sentences and even cases of capital punishment.

Members of Ms Amini's family, including her father, uncle and family lawyer, have been called in for questioning by Iranian authorities as part of its crackdown on protests.

The US says Iran engaged in “brutal suppression, including murder, torture, sexual violence” in response to the anti-government demonstrations.

The international community has been trying to maintain pressure on Iran for its actions during the protests. A group of countries at the UN this year pushed to renew a UN special rapporteur fact-finding mission for possible legal action against Tehran.

The sanctions also take aim at people engaged in malign activities abroad. The Treasury Department said that Yahya Hosseini Panjaki, Javad Ghaffarhaddadi, Hamid Zareikajosangi and Mahmud Baghlani had sanctions imposed for plotting of operations outside of Iran.

There were reportedly several failed plots to kidnap Iranian journalist and regime critic Masih Alinejad in New York City and take her back to Tehran. She has been vocal about women's rights in her home country and its suppression of protests.

Australia and Canada also filed sanctions against some Iranians. On Monday, Australia issued sanctions against five Iranian security and law enforcement officials.

And Canada on Wednesday imposed sanctions on five Iranians close to the former presidential leadership and in law enforcement for being “responsible for the design and implementation of repressive policies, including the violent repression of protesters”, a statement said.