New US sanctions against Iran target interior minister over crackdown on protesters

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration imposed sanctions Friday against Iran ‘s interior minister, accusing Eskandar Momeni of repressing nationwide protests that have challenged Tehran’s theocratic government. The penalties are the latest by the United States and the European Union targeting high-ranking officials over the crackdown.

The administration says Momeni has overseen Iran’s law enforcement forces that are responsible for the deaths of thousands of peaceful protesters.

Economic woes sparked the protests in late December before they broadened into a challenge to the Islamic Republic. The crackdown soon followed, which activists say has killed more than 6,000 people. Iranian officials and state media repeatedly refer to the demonstrators as “terrorists.”

The EU on Thursday imposed its own sanctions against Momeni, along with members of Iran’s judicial system and other high-ranking officers.

“They ​were all involved ‌in the violent repression of peaceful protests and the arbitrary arrest of political ⁠activists and ​human rights ​defenders,” according to the EU.

Also Friday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets imposed sanctions on Babak Morteza Zanjani, an Iranian investor who is accused of embezzling billions of dollars in Iranian oil revenue for the benefit of the Iranian government. Two digital asset exchanges linked to Zanjani that have processed large volumes of funds were penalized, too.

The EU has agreed to list Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, in a largely symbolic move that adds to pressure on Tehran.

Included in the latest set of U.S. sanctions is the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, whom the Treasury Department accuses of being one of the first officials to call for violence against Iranian protesters. The sanctions also target a group of 18 people and companies accused of participating in laundering money from sales of Iranian oil to foreign markets as part of a shadow banking network of sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department “will continue to target Iranian networks and corrupt elites that enrich themselves at the expense of the Iranian people.”

“Like rats on a sinking ship, the regime is frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, Treasury will act,” he said in a statement.

Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S., limit travel to America and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.