US issues fresh Iran-related sanctions

The US issued fresh Iran-related sanctions on Monday against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cooperative Foundation and other senior officials for their violent crackdown on Iranian protesters.

The IRGC Cooperative Foundation and five of its board members as well as the deputy minister of intelligence and security were designated under human rights authorities, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Four senior IRGC commanders in Iran were also designated.

“Today’s action, in coordination with both the United Kingdom and European Union, targets a key economic pillar of the IRGC, which funds much of the regime’s brutal suppression; as well as senior security officials coordinating Tehran’s crackdown at the national and provincial levels,” the Treasury Department said.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said the US remains committed to supporting the Iranian people in their demands for human rights and other fundamental freedoms. “Along 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,” he said.

The Iranian regime has beaten, abused, and killed protesters who have taken to the streets since Mahsa Amini was killed while in the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police for improper hijab last September.

Tehran has also claimed, without providing evidence, that foreign countries and intelligence agencies have stirred the nationwide protests.

Monday’s sanctions were the ninth round of US designations since the protests started, targeting those responsible for the violent oppression of Iranian protesters.

The Treasury Department said the IRGC Cooperative Foundation is the group that manages the IRGC’s investments and presence in sectors of the Iranian economy.

It serves as a “slush fund” for the IRGC’s personnel and their business interests, the Treasury Department said.