Iran's Foreign Ministry announces sanctions on a host of American individuals and entities for committing human rights violations, supporting terrorism and inciting violence against the Iranian nation during the recent riots.
In a statement on Monday, the ministry said the sanctions were imposed in line with a law titled “Countering America’s Human Rights Violation and Adventurous and Terrorist Actions” passed by the Iranian Parliament in 2017.
The Islamic Republic has imposed sanctions on 10 American individuals and 4 entities for committing human rights violations, interfering in Iran's internal affairs, instigating violence and riots in the country, encouraging acts of terror, countering Tehran's moves and attempts to fight terrorism, and mounting pressure on the Iranian nation amounting to economic terrorism.
This list includes:
- Michael Erik Kurilla, the commander of United States Central Command
- Gregory M. Guillot, the deputy commander of United States Central Command
- Scott Desormeaux, the commander of US airbase in Erbil, Iraq
- Juan Zarate, chairman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP)
- Mark Wallace, the CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)
- Adewale "Wally" Adeyemo, the United States deputy secretary of the Treasury
- Alexus G. Grynkewich, the commander of Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)
- Anne Neuberger, the Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology
- Isaac Johnson, Jr., the commander of the United States Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command
- Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence,
in addition to:
- United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- The Ninth Air Force
- National Guard of the United States
The US administration and its European allies have over the past weeks introduced restrictive measures against a number of Iranian individuals and entities over what they claim a heavy-handed crackdown on violent protesters across the country after the death of an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent in police custody in the capital, Tehran.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has said the United States and the United Kingdom were “directly” involved in the recent riots, adding that dozens of terrorists affiliated with the Zionist regime and anti-revolution groups have also been detained in the unrest.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued a statement on Friday, pointing to the major role of foreign intelligence agencies, especially the CIA, in orchestrating the violent riots in Iran in the past weeks.
Riots broke out in Iran last month after Mahsa Amini died. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization said that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
The rioters have been going on a rampage across the country, attacking security officers, resorting to vandalism against public property, and desecrating religious sanctities.
Late last month, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced that the rioters have been backed by Western regimes and their mercenary media, which disseminated misinformation and distorted the sequence of events that led to Amini’s death even before the official investigation into the incident concludes.
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