On Wednesday, the United States announced the imposition of a new package of sanctions targeting 18 Iranian officials, on charges of their involvement in practices considered a flagrant violation of human rights inside Iran, especially during periods of widespread popular protests.
In a statement, the US State Department reported that “the Iranian regime practiced violence and repression against tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators during the protests that spread across the country in December and January,” and indicated that the Iranian authorities deliberately cut off Internet service almost completely nationwide, in a step described as unprecedented in scope and duration, which hindered independent documentation of violations and isolated the Iranian people from the outside world.
The ministry continued in its statement that “the regime still, to this day, restricts the ability of Iranians to exercise their basic freedoms,” stressing that Donald Trump has repeatedly stressed that the United States “stands with the Iranian people.”
The US State Department also clarified that these sanctions were imposed based on the powers specified in Section 212 (a) (3) (c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio took measures to impose visa restrictions on 18 officials of the Iranian regime, including leaders in the communications sector, in addition to members of their immediate families.
The statement indicated that this policy “targets individuals involved, or believed to be involved, in serious human rights violations, especially those related to restricting freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” adding that 58 people have so far been covered by these measures.
The US State Department concluded its statement by emphasizing that it “will continue to use all available tools to expose violations of Iranian regime officials and other individuals, and work to enhance accountability for these violations.”
These sanctions come within the framework of a strict American policy towards the human rights issue in Iran, accompanied by increasing political and diplomatic pressure on Tehran, amid an atmosphere of regional tension and fears of the failure of the negotiating paths between the two parties. Washington has repeatedly used individual sanctions as a tool of pressure, targeting security, judicial and media officials, against the backdrop of their dealings with internal protests and restricting public freedoms, in conjunction with the continuing dispute over the Iranian nuclear program and the future of relations between the two countries.
