Iran
A file picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows a demonstrator raising his arms and makes the victory sign during a protest for Mahsa Amini, a woman who reportedly died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police", in Tehran on September 19, 2022. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Kingdom issued a fresh batch of sanctions Monday against key Iranian regime officials, including the deputy prosecutor general, over the Islamic republic’s “horrific violence” against its people and the execution of a dual British-Iranian national.
“These sanctions, alongside designations by the European Union and the United States, demonstrate the international community’s unified condemnation of the horrific violence” imposed by Tehran, the government said.
Some of the individuals and entities listed in the sanctions wave include deputy prosecutor general Ahmed Fazelian, army ground force commander Kiumars Heydari, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) paramilitary Basij, as well as their deputy commander Salar Abnoush.
“Those sanctioned today, from the judicial figures using the death penalty for political ends to the thugs beating protestors on the streets, are at the heart of the regime’s brutal repression of the Iranian people,” UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
There can be no hiding places for human rights violators.
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) January 23, 2023
Alongside our global partners, we are imposing further sanctions on the Iranian regime.
We’re targeting those responsible for oppressing the Iranian people.https://t.co/Z9xZlo6IYs
The UK has now imposed 50 new sanctions in response to human rights violations by the Iranian regime since young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini died in custody of the country’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s strict dress code, the government noted, adding that the sanctions include an asset freeze and a UK travel ban.
Iran on January 14 hanged British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari, an ex-deputy defense minister, for being a spy of the UK’s M16 intelligence agency, prompting outrage and fierce criticism from the West.
Britain accused Fazelian of being “responsible for a judicial system characterized by unfair trials and egregious punishments, including use of the death penalty for political purposes,” and referred to the execution of Akbari as an example of the regime’s “brutal system.”
“The UK and our partners have sent a clear message through these sanctions that there will be no hiding place for those guilty of the worst human rights violations,” Secretary Cleverly affirmed.
In its annual world report on global rights conditions published earlier in January, Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed Iran for conducting unfair trials and obtaining confessions under duress, as well as for charges brought against dual nationals.
Nationwide antigovernment demonstrations have engulfed Iran since Amini’s death on September 16, prompting a brutal crackdown by security forces. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)’s latest tally on Saturday reads at least 525 protestors, including 71 children, have been killed and over 19,500 arrested since the protests began.
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