The Council of the EU added, on Monday 12 April, eight security officials and three prisons to the list of persons and entities deemed responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran. According to the EU Council, they played a role in the violent response to the November 2019 protests.
Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Gholamreza Soleilmani, head of the IRGC’s Basij organisation, an organisation that used lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests in Iran, Hassan Karami, Commander of the special units of the Iranian police force, and Mohammad Pakpour, Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC’s ground forces, are all subject to sanctions.
Also involved are the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian police force, Hossein Ashtari, the former head of Evin prison, Gholamreza Ziaei, the IRGC Commander in Khuzestan, Hassan Shahvarpour, and the governor of Shahr-e Qods and head of the City Security Council, Leyla Vaseghi.
Prisons in Evin, Fashafouyeh and Rajaee Shahr are also subject to restrictive measures.
A total of 89 individuals and four entities have been sanctioned for their role in serious human rights violations. These measures, which were introduced in 2011 and have since been extended on an annual basis, were extended on Monday 12 April until 13 April 2022.
They include a travel ban and asset freeze, and a ban on the export to Iran of equipment that could be used for internal repression and telecommunications surveillance equipment. EU citizens and companies are also prohibited from making funds available to listed persons and entities. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)