Iran sanctions dozens of Democratic and Republican US officials

Iran announced it has sanctioned dozens of current and former American officials on Saturday over claims they support an organization Tehran has deemed a terrorist group.

The 61 political figures, both Republicans and Democrats, include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for former President Trump.

Eleven senators and 19 House members are also included on the list.

They include Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the government was sanctioning the individuals for supporting the Mujahedin, also known as Monafeghin, an organization determined to be a “terrorist group” by the Iranian ministry.

The Mojahedin organization opposes the Iranian government and advocates for “democratic regime change” in the country.

“Despite the terrorist nature and atrocious terrorist acts of Monafeghin as well as its violent terrorist and military activities, the United States government continues to support this terrorist group and has maintained its double standards and hypocrisy in this regard,” the foreign affairs ministry wrote when announcing the sanctions.

It claimed that the 61 Americans sanctioned had supported the Mojahedin by participating in one of the group’s gatherings, “acknowledging their terrorist acts and causes as well as providing political and propaganda support to the group.”

The announcement of sanctions was made the same day President Biden was returning from a trip to the Middle East, in which he assured Israeli officials that the U.S. is committed to its security and preventing a nuclear Iran.

Talks with the Biden administration over reentering a nuclear deal with Iran have stalled after Trump withdrew the U.S. from it in 2018.

Iran sanctioned a smaller group of 24 American figures, including Giuliani and Pompeo, for “financing and supporting terrorist groups and terrorist acts” in April.

Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley were also on the list of sanctioned Americans.