Dan De Luce and Abigail Williams
Wed, October 26, 2022 at 10:51 PM·5 min read
The Biden administration imposed sanctions on 14 Iranian officials after a violent crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran, vowing to hold the regime accountable for its "brutal suppression" of dissent, officials said Wednesday.
The announcement coincided with demonstrations in Iran marking 40 days since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police after she was accused of failing to comply with the country’s strict dress code.
“Forty days after the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, Iranians continue to bravely protest in the face of brutal suppression and disruption of internet access,” Brian Nelson, the under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence in the Treasury Department, said in a statement.
“The United States is imposing new sanctions on Iranian officials overseeing organizations involved in violent crackdowns and killings, including of children, as part of our commitment to hold all levels of the Iranian government accountable for its repression.”
The sanctions target Revolutionary Guard commanders and intelligence officials helping to orchestrate efforts to crush the protests, prison officials accused of torture and other abuses of political prisoners, regional governors overseeing violent crackdowns on peaceful protests, as well as organizations involved in “censorship” and “surveillance” of the Iranian people, according to the departments of Treasury and State.
The death of Amini, a woman from the country’s Kurdish community, has sparked more than a month of protests across Iran with women in the vanguard, despite a massive security presence and arrests of demonstrators and civil society activists. The sustained protests, which have spread to universities and some factories and teachers associations, mark an unprecedented challenge to the regime’s authority.
The sanctions are part of a wider effort by the Biden administration to work with European and other allies to ensure internet access for Iranians and to hold Iran accountable for its repression of the protests, including at the United Nations where Iran sits on a commission on the status of women, a senior administration official said in an interview.