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US Slaps New Sanctions on Iranian Officials over Protest Crackdown 

People walk next to closed shops in downtown of the capital city of Tehran, Iran, 05 December 2022. (EPA)
People walk next to closed shops in downtown of the capital city of Tehran, Iran, 05 December 2022. (EPA)
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US Slaps New Sanctions on Iranian Officials over Protest Crackdown 

People walk next to closed shops in downtown of the capital city of Tehran, Iran, 05 December 2022. (EPA)
People walk next to closed shops in downtown of the capital city of Tehran, Iran, 05 December 2022. (EPA)

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, including the Prosecutor General and key military officials, over a crackdown on protests ignited by Mahsa Amini's death in police custody. 

The US Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on Mohammad Montazeri, Iran’s Prosecutor General, accusing him of issuing a directive to courts in September to issue harsh sentences to many of those arrested during protests. 

Also designated was Iranian company Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, which the Treasury said manufactures equipment for Iran's Law Enforcement Forces, including armored vehicles used in crowd suppression. 

Washington also imposed sanctions on two senior officials of Iran’s Basij Resistance Forces, a militia affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards that has been widely deployed during the crackdown, and two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials. 

The move is the latest in a series of actions Washington has taken imposing new sanctions on Iranian officials over Iran's crackdown on the unrest ignited by the death of Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman, while in the custody of the morality police in September. 

The protests by Iranians from all walks of life mark one of the boldest challenges to the ruling theocracy since the 1979 revolution. Iran accuses Western powers of fomenting the unrest, which security forces have met with deadly violence.  

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Israeli Government Orders Public Entities to Stop Advertising in Haaretz Newspaper

A woman reads the 13 February issue of the Haaretz daily newspaper in Jerusalem (AFP)
A woman reads the 13 February issue of the Haaretz daily newspaper in Jerusalem (AFP)
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Israeli Government Orders Public Entities to Stop Advertising in Haaretz Newspaper

A woman reads the 13 February issue of the Haaretz daily newspaper in Jerusalem (AFP)
A woman reads the 13 February issue of the Haaretz daily newspaper in Jerusalem (AFP)

The Israeli government has ordered all public entities to stop advertising in the Haaretz newspaper, which is known for its critical coverage of Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said Sunday that the government had approved his proposal after Haaretz’ publisher called for sanctions against Israel and referred to Palestinian militants as “freedom fighters.”
“We advocate for a free press and freedom of expression, but also the freedom of the government to decide not to fund incitement against the State of Israel,” Karhi wrote on the social platform X.
Noa Landau, the deputy editor of Haaretz, accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “working to silence independent and critical media,” comparing him to autocratic leaders in other countries.
Haaretz regularly publishes investigative journalism and opinion columns critical of Israel’s ongoing half-century occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state.
It has also been critical of Israel’s war conduct in Gaza at a time when most local media support the war and largely ignore the suffering of Palestinian civilians.
In a speech in London last month, Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken said Israel has imposed “a cruel apartheid regime” on the Palestinians and was battling “Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls ‘terrorists.’”
He later issued a statement, saying he had reconsidered his remarks.
“For the record, Hamas are not freedom fighters,” he posted on X. “I should have said: using terrorism is illegitimate. I was wrong not to say that.”