US sanctions Iranian morality police

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran’s feared morality police, accusing it of “abuse and violence against Iranian women and the violation of the rights of peaceful Iranian protestors.”

The sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, an arm of the US Treasury Department also targeted seven senior leaders of Iran’s security organizations.

It comes amid unrest in the Islamic Republic over the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old woman died in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly wearing a headscarf in an “improper” way under Iran’s strict dress code for women. 

The US Treasury said the morality police was “responsible” for Amini’s death as it announced the sanctions.

“Mahsa Amini was a courageous woman whose death in morality police custody was yet another act of brutality by the Iranian regime’s security forces against its own people,” US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said.

US Treasury turns its sights on Iranian security personnel

The US Treasury also sanctioned senior security officials, including Esmail Khatib, Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, Kioumars Heidari, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces, and the head of the morality police Mohammad Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi.

“These officials oversee organizations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women’s rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha’i community,” the Treasury said.

Any US assets affiliated with those individuals would be frozen as part of the sanctions.

The sanctions also prohibit Americans from dealing with the people and organizations named. 

lo/ (AP, Reuters)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/us-sanctions-iranian-morality-police/a-63209477?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf