US sanctions Iranian officials, including army chief, for alleged right abuses

WASHINGTON (AA) – The US slapped new sanctions Wednesday on Iranian officials, including its army chief, and companies for alleged rights abuses, according to State Secretary Antony Blinken.

“Today – on International Women’s Day – the United States is taking action in coordination with the European Union, United Kingdom, and Australia to promote accountability for the Iranian regime’s continued human rights abuses, particularly those against women and girls, including those conducted in the course of the brutal crackdown on protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini,” Blinken said in a statement.

“To that end, the United States is designating two Iranian officials overseeing prisons in Iran, two senior Iranian security leaders, three companies that supply Iranian law enforcement, and the heads of these companies, as well as a high ranking law enforcement official,” he added.

Those sanctioned by the Treasury Department include Ali Chaharmahali, the Director General of Prisons in Alborz Province and Dariush Bakhshi, the head of the Orumiyeh Central Prison.

“Both officials were complicit in the mistreatment of inmates in their custody by security forces, including through rape, torture, or other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment,” said Blinken.

Technical Director of the Cyberspace Affairs Deputy of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Iran, Mahdi Amiri; Sayyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of the army; and Habib Shahsavari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Shohada Provincial Corps in West Azerbaijan Province were also sanctioned.

In addition, the US agency sanctioned the Naji Pas Company that supplies the national police force and CEO Reza Asgharian; the Entebagh Gostar Sepehr Company and CEO Gholamreza Ramezanian Sani and the Naji Pars Amin Institute — a company that provides security and protection services — and CEO Bahram Abdollahinejad.

“The United States remains deeply concerned that Iranian authorities continue to suppress dissent and peaceful protest, including through mass arrests, sham trials, hasty executions, the detention of journalists, and the use of sexual violence as a means of protest suppression,” said Blinken.