UK announces sanctions against Iranian minister of the interior and IRGC members
Ten individuals – including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – sanctioned for role in 'facilitating brutality and violence' during recent crackdown on protesters
Iran’s minister of the interior and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have been sanctioned over “serious human rights violations”, the UK Foreign Office has confirmed.
Ten individuals – including Eskandar Momeni, the Iranian minister of the interior who is responsible for Iran’s police force, and Yadollah Bouali, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) commander of Fars province – have been targted in the new move.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said the ten inndividuals along with an orgainsation had been sanctioned for their role in “enabling and facilitating brutality and violence”, according to the department.
The Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA) has been made subject to a director disqualification and asset freeze immediately.
Others hit include Mohammad Reza Hashemifar, the police chief in Lorestan province, Seyed Majid Feiz Jafari, the police chief of Iran’s public security police, Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman who runs a network of companies which generates funds and enables the activities of the IRGC, and Colonel Ahmed Amini, a police chief who the Government said “presided over human rights abuses in Noor province in 2024”.
Mohammad Ghanbari, commander of Iran’s criminal investigation police, Ahmad Darvish Goftar, a judge in the Revolutionary Court of Rasht, Mehdi Rasakhi, a judge in the Revolutionary Court of Rasht and Mohammad Zamani, an IRGC officer, where also sanctioned.
In a statement on Monday, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said the latest round of sanctions was “part of work to hold the Iranian authorities accountable for a number of serious human rights violations”.
The Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The Iranian people have shown extreme courage in the face of brutality and repression over recent weeks simply for exercising their right to peaceful protest. The reports and shocking scenes of violence that have been seen around the world are horrific.
“We committed to bringing forward sanctions and warned the Iranian regime of further measures. We were clear that we would hold the Iranian authorities to account – and today’s package does just that.”
Thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks as authorities responded to demonstrations in cities across the country.
The numbers killed and injured are not easy to estimate because of an internet blackout in Iran.
US-based organisation Human Rights Activists in Iran, also known by the initials of its news agency Hrana, believes the number of confirmed deaths is 6,842, of which 6,425 were protesters.
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