US, UK Impose New Iran Sanctions On Mahsa Amini’s Death Anniversary

The US and Britain on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran ahead of the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, which sparked months of protests that faced a violent crackdown.

Amini’s death on September 16 last year at the hands of the morality police sparked months of anti-government protests that marked the biggest show of opposition to the Islamic regime since 1979. Iranian security forces have been deployed in her hometown and elsewhere in anticipation of unrest this weekend.

The United States and Britain, along with the European Union, have imposed multiple rounds of sanctions against Iran, for widespread and often violent crackdown on protests.

The US Treasury Department in a statement Friday said it imposed sanctions on more than two dozen people and entities it said were connected to Iran's "violent suppression" of protests and crackdown on dissenting voices and restrictions to internet.

The action targets 29 people and groups, including 18 key members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran's Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), as well as the head of Iran's Prisons Organizations, the department said. They also target officials linked to Iran's internet filtering and several media outlets.

The sanctions target LEF spokesperson Saeed Montazerolmehdi, multiple LEF and IRGC commanders, and Iran’s Prisons Organization chief Gholamali Mohammadi.

Douran Software Technologies CEO Alireza Abedinejad as well as state-controlled media organizations Press TV, Tasnim News Agency and Fars News were also among those sanctioned.

Britain separately announced its sanctions targeting senior Iranian decision makers enforcing Tehran's mandatory hijab law, including Iran's minister for culture and Islamic guidance, his deputy, the mayor of Tehran and an Iranian police spokesman.