US issues new sanctions as women-led Iran protests hit 40 days

The Biden administration on Wednesday issued sanctions on more than a dozen Iranian officials and three entities in response to Tehran’s brutal crackdown on women-led, anti-government protests.

The sanctions were published the same day Iranian protesters are holding a memorial for Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was allegedly beaten to death by Iran’s “morality police” last month over her hair covering. Her death sparked nationwide protests that have called for regime change.

Thousands of protesters reportedly traveled to Amini’s hometown on Wednesday to mark the Islamic tradition of 40 days of mourning since her death, with demonstrations reportedly taking place across the country, drawing tens of thousands of people.

“It has been 40 days since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s so-called ‘Morality Police,’ and we join her family and the Iranian people for a day of mourning and reflection,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“The United States is committed to supporting the Iranian people and ensuring that those responsible for the brutal crackdown on the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran are held accountable.”

The sanctions target individuals in provinces where some of the most harrowing atrocities have been documented.

This includes sanctions against the governor of the province of Sistan and Baluchistan, Hossein Modarres Khiabani, for his role “in overseeing the violent response by security forces against peaceful protestors,” Blinken said. 

The atrocities are related to what residents of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan, reportedly described as “Bloody Friday,” when, on Sept. 30, Iranian security forces opened fire with live ammunition, tear gas and metal pellets, killing 80 people, including children, and injuring hundreds more. 

“Khiabani, in his role as governor, had responsibility for oversight of Iranian security forces’ violent response to those protests,” the Treasury Department said in a statement announcing its sanctions.

The administration used a wide range of authorities between the State Department and Treasury Department to target individuals and entities that they say are responsible or complicit in human rights abuses and that are infringing on the rights of protesters.

This includes six Iranian government officials holding positions with Iran’s prison systems, including at Evin Prison, documented by human rights groups as a hotbed of torture targeting political prisoners. The sanctions also target Iranian officials at prisons in other provinces including Sistan and Baluchistan and Iranian Kurdistan, the secretary said in his statement. 

Three other sanctioned individuals are being targeted by the United States for serving as commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “for their brutal responses to protests in Iran,” the secretary said. The IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. 

Other sanctions include two entities that Blinken said are involved in the “censorship, surveillance, and malicious cyber activity against the Iranian people.”

The sanctions block a person’s ability to travel to the U.S. Individuals and entities also will have their access blocked to any property or interests in properties in the U.S.

“The United States is committed to working to promote justice and accountability for human rights violations and abuses in Iran,” Blinken said. “We will continue to find ways to support the people of Iran as they peacefully protest in defense of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in doing so, will continue to impose costs on individuals and entities in Iran who engage in the brutal repression of the Iranian people.”