The US blacklists seven 7 key figures of Iran including interior minister

The United States has sanctioned Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, accusing him of “grave human rights abuses.”

Washington also banned seven people, including the provincial commander of the Revolutionary Guards of Iran (IRGC) and senior officials of the Law Enforcement Force (LEF), according to AFP.

US officials have accused several Iranian companies of being involved in the energy, construction, technology, services and banking industries.

US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that the Iranian government was exerting violent pressure on the Iranian people, including peaceful protests, through physical and psychological abuse.

He said that the United States will hold accountable all those officials and institutions who oppress and abuse their own people.

Steven Mnuchin said Iranian law enforcement forces “played a key role in cracking down on protesters and running detention centers for physical and psychological abuse.”

The sanctioned Iranian key figures by the US Treasury Department has been named as:

• Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli
• Police chief Hossein Ashtari Fard
• Deputy Police Chief Ayoub Soleimani
• Mohsen Fathi Zadeh head of state police Defense & Intel Organization
• Yahya Mahmoodzadeh Deputy of state police Planning & Budget
• Hamidraza Ashraq, Deputy of state police Legal & Parliamentary Affairs
• Mohammad Ali Noorinajad, the Deputy Coordinator of state police

Meanwhile, Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State has also confirmed the Treasury Department’s decision in a series of tweets. He wrote on Twitter:

“Today the U.S. sanctioned Iran’s Minister of Interior, Rahmani Fazli, and others under human rights-related sanctions authorities. Under Fazli’s orders, many peaceful protestors have been killed, among them a 12-year-old walking home from school. The abuse must stop.

The U.S. also designated Ali Fallahian. As the head of Iran’s intelligence service from 1989 to 1997, he was behind multiple assassinations and attacks, including the 1995 killing of U.S. exchange student Alisa Flatow and the 1994 Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires.”