EU Imposes More Sanctions On Iran For Human Rights Violations

The sanctions were imposed for what Britain said were actions contributing to the serious violation of human rights in Iran.

The UK sanctioned five members of the Board of Directors of the IRGC Co-operative Foundation, an economic conglomerate established by senior IRGC officials to manage the group’s investments in the Iranian economy.

Established initially to support IRGC service members, the Foundation has broadened out its remit to funding the IRGC’s repressive activities in Iran and abroad, a statement by the government said.

“The Foundation is also responsible for funding militant groups associated with the IRGC’s external operations arm, the IRGC-Quds Force. The Quds force is responsible for carrying out lethal activities outside of Iran by, for example, providing training, funding and weapons to groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas,” according the Foreign Office.

“Today we are taking action on the senior leaders within the IRGC who are responsible for funnelling money into the regime’s brutal repression. Together with our partners around the world, we will continue to stand with the Iranian people as they call for fundamental change in Iran,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

The UK also imposed sanctions on further IRGC provincial commanders for their roles in overseeing human right violations against protestors. Designations include Ahmed Zulqadr, Commander of the IRGC Seyyed al-Shohada provincial corps in Tehran province and Deputy Commander of IRGC corps in Tehran City, and Alireza Heydarnia, Commander of the IRGC for the Alborz Province.

Targeted financial sanctions and travel bans will now apply to 13 Iranian individuals and targeted financial sanctions on one entity involved in the production and supply of drones to Russia.

The statement issued by Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, said the sanctions target those "responsible for egregious human rights abuses and violations in Iran".

Sanctioned targets also include senior law enforcement, political and military figures, including within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the regime's agency involved in the violent crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa Amini and the continued oppression of the people of Iran.

According to the list seen by Iran International, the commander of the IRGC's Sarallah Base, Mohammad Hossein Zibaee Nejad, also known as Hossein Nejat, is also on the list. Tasked with keeping Tehran secure, it is the most important IRGC ground force HQ in Iran consisting of several of its most important units, which protect key institutions and the offices of the government. The operations deputy of the Police Force, Hossein Sajedinia, also appears on the list. 

Four members of the morality police cited as "responsible for the arrest, detention and ill-treatment of Mahsa Amini" are among those facing the Magnitsky-style human rights sanctions.

EU countries have agreed to take new punitive measures against those responsible for the repression, the Dutch website De Telegraff quoted some sources as saying.

The bloc’s foreign ministers still have to approve the sanctions on Monday at their meeting in Brussels, but it is expected to be adopted.

The designated individuals and organizations will no longer be allowed to enter the EU and can no longer access any assets in the union. The EU has so far imposed such sanctions on 196 Iranians and 33 Iranian organizations and companies including prominent politicians and security officials.

The latest round of sanctions from the EU in late February included Iran's Culture Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili for persecuting artists and filmmakers and also Education Minister Yousef Nouri for suppressing students.

The European Parliament has called on the EU to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity, blaming it for the repression of domestic protests and the supply of drones to Russia.

However, the 27-nation bloc has so far stopped short of blacklisting the IRGC as a terror group, despite calls from Berlin and Amsterdam.

The hardliner cleric and Friday prayer Imam in Tehran said that high prices are the result of an "economic war” waged by the US, referring to the heavy sanctions Iran is currently living under.

Although economic sanctions imposed by Washington have a major impact on Iran's economy, many among local media and politicians also blame government mismanagement and the centrally controlled economy plagued by corruption.

“I clearly announce that this high level of inflation is a conspiracy and economic war staged by the US, so the authorities should put in more effort to deal with the unbridled prices,” he said.

Khatami went as far as making a strange claim that “American think tanks have organized 200 conspiracies to overthrow the Islamic Republic.” Accusing American research outfits of conspiring against the regime has been a recent theme in sermons by hardliner clerics.

Iran has been struggling with above-40-percent inflation since 2019 when the United States imposed sanctions.

Last May the government eliminated an annual food import subsidy of at least $10 billion, which immediately led to steep price increases. This was followed by a fall in the value of the national currency.

Food prices continue to climb as the national currency declined by 50 percent in the past six months. According to the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI), in some months, food and beverage inflation hit 87 percent.

The ongoing Woman Life Freedom protests and the collapse of the JCPOA talks, have also worsened the country’s economy to levels not seen in recent history.

News about more sanctions usually leads the rise of the US dollar on the local market. Since September the dollar and other currencies have doubled their exchange rate against Iran’s currency, leading to a serious economic crisis and inflationary pressure.

At the same time, Hamid Hosseini, the chairman of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce claimed that the United States has allowed Iraq to release $500 million of its debts to Iran.

Iraq imports electricity and natural gas from Iran and owes Tehran more than $10 billion, because US banking sanctions do not allow dollar transfers to Iran. However, Hosseini said that Iraq's debt has reached $18 billion.

The US, however, has allowed the money blocked in Iraq to be used for importing goods not banned under American sanctions. These are generally food, medicine and medical supplies. Hosseini’s claim about the release of $500 million, if true, could have been an action within this framework.

After dropping to a low of 600,000 to the US dollar, the rial has regained some of its value and is now trading at around 500,000 against the dollar, but that is still half of its value compared to one year ago. A three-day religious holiday has kept the currency market in check in this week.