U.S. issues new sanctions on Iran after execution of 2 protesters

The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions targeting Iranian officials, after two protesters were executed — one publicly — in recent weeks.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders Mohammad Kazemi and Abbas Nilforushan, as well as the Iranian company Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, which the Treasury says manufactures much of the equipment Iranian law enforcement uses to suppress the protests.

“We denounce the Iranian regime’s intensifying use of violence against its own people who are advocating for their human rights,” Brian E. Nelson, the Treasury undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement. “The United States and our partners are dedicated to holding Iranian officials to account for egregious abuses committed against Iranian citizens fighting for their fundamental freedoms.”

Protests erupted across the country months ago, after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police on Sept. 16. Iran’s crackdown of protesters has done little to quell the chaos, considered the biggest challenge to Iranian leadership since the 1978-79 Islamic Revolution.

Since the protests began, hundreds of people, some of them children, have been killed in the crackdown.

“Thousands of brave Iranians have risked their lives and their liberty to protest the regime’s long record of oppression and violence,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “We again call on Iran’s leadership to immediately cease its violent crackdown and to listen to its people. We will continue to promote accountability for those involved as we support the Iranian people.”

Wednesday’s sanctions were just the latest in the slew of actions the U.S. has taken to apply pressure to Iranian leadership. Earlier this month, the U.S. led the charge in ousting Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.