The United States issued fresh human rights-related sanctions on Friday targeting individuals in multiple countries, including Iran, according to a post on the US Department of Treasury website.
The new sanctions target Chinese, Iranian individuals and others under the Global Magnitsky Act program, which freezes the assets of those who US officials believe are involved in human rights abuses and blocks Americans from doing business with them.
“Our commitment to upholding and defending human rights is sacrosanct,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “Abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms—wherever they occur in the world—strike at the heart of our shared humanity and our collective conscience. Treasury’s targeted sanctions announced today and over the past year underscore the seriousness of our commitment to promoting accountability for human rights abuse and safeguarding the US financial system from those who commit these egregious acts.”
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Iranian intelligence officers Majid Dastjani Farahani and Mohammad Mahdi Khanpour Ardestani.
It said they have recruited individuals for various operations in the US, to include lethal targeting of current and former US Government officials as revenge for the death of Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.
“Farahani and Ardestani also recruited individuals for surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States,” it said.
