Washington DC, 24 January 2023 (TDI): United States (US) joined the United Kingdom (UK) & the European Union (EU) to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cooperative Foundation & its five board members for human rights violations.
Today’s action comes in coordination with UK and EU to sanction key economic pillars of IRGC, which according to the US fund much of the regime’s suppression, as well as senior security officials coordinating Tehran’s crackdown at the national and provincial levels.
The US remains committed to supporting the Iranian people in their demands for human rights and other fundamental freedoms, said the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Tourism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson.
Furthermore, he said, “along with our partners, we will continue to hold the Iranian regime accountable so long as it relies upon violence, sham trials, the execution of protestors, and other means of suppressing its people”.
Today’s actions are being taken under Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which authorizes the imposition of sanctions on persons with respect to certain serious human rights abuses by an official of the Government of Iran or a person acting on behalf of the Government of Iran.
This is the ninth round of OFAC designations targeting actors responsible for the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and efforts to disrupt and cut Iran’s access to the global internet since nationwide protests began in 2022.
IRGC Cooperative Foundation
The IRGC Cooperative Foundation is an economic conglomerate established by senior IRGC officials to manage the group’s investments and presence in numerous sectors of the Iranian economy, including manufacturing and construction.
The IRGC Cooperative Foundation serves as a slush fund for the IRGC’s personnel and their business interests.
It’s been four months since the protest erupted in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini, since then the IRGC continues to aggressively crack down on peaceful demonstrations and has played a leading role in suppressing protests through extensive human rights abuses.
Also Read: UN condemns state-sanctioned killings in Iran
The US along with the UK and EU have imposed sanctions on more than 50 Iranian officials and entities, including units of the Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a brutal crackdown on protestors, since the protest broke out.
The new sanctions were imposed on 18 people and 19 entities. Those targeted cannot travel to US, UK, and EU and any assets they hold inside the block can be frozen.
The relationship between the West and Iran has already deteriorated, since the US withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal and Iran’s ties with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
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