US Applies Sanctions Pressure on Iran Over 'Anti-Government Protesters' Death Sentences'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The United States has stepped up pressure by imposing sanctions on the Iranian Prosecutor General and key military officials who led the harsh crackdown on protesters in the 'Hijab suspicious death' demonstrations.

On the 21st (local time), according to major foreign media, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mohammad Montazeri, Iran's Prosecutor General, stating that he played a leading role in handing down harsh sentences to many arrested during the anti-government protests.

Additionally, two senior officials of the Basij Resistance Force, a militia under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and two IRGC officials who were massively deployed to suppress the protests were also sanctioned. The company 'Imen Sanat Zaman Para,' which manufactures equipment for Iranian security agencies including armored vehicles used in the protest suppression, was also added to the sanctions list.

Other individuals included in the sanctions are Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of the IRGC Tehran branch; Moslem Moein, head of the Basij Resistance Force Cyber Headquarters who oversaw Iran's online activity censorship and control; and Hossein Maroufi, deputy commander of the Basij. The sanctioned individuals will have their assets frozen in the U.S., and Americans are prohibited from conducting transactions with them.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Brian Nelson, U.S. Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated in a sanction-related statement, "We condemn the Iranian regime’s increased use of violence against its citizens who advocate for human rights."

Following the first execution on the 8th of Mosen Shekari, a 23-year-old participant in the anti-government protests over the suspicious death related to the hijab, Iranian authorities carried out a second execution five days later on another protester, Majidreza Rahnavard.

The execution of Rahnavard was publicly carried out on the streets of Mashhad city center, and Mizan News Agency, operated by the Iranian judiciary, published photos showing Rahnavard hanging from a crane with a rope tied around him.

Since September, nationwide anti-government protests have spread across Iran following the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who was taken by police for not wearing her hijab properly. As the Iranian government has harshly suppressed the protests that have continued for over three months, as of the 18th, 502 protesters (according to the Iran Human Rights Activists News Agency) have lost their lives.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.