US sanctions top Iranian officials for rights abuses
Friday, 1 October 2010
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP): US President Barack Obama Wednesday ordered sanctions against eight senior Iranian officials for alleged human rights abuses over the crackdown against those protesting the 2009 elections.
In the first sanctions against Iran for alleged rights abuses, Obama issued an executive order that would also freeze the assets of the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the prosecutor general and the deputy head of the national police service.
The group, including Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, identified by the US as interior minister, was linked to the suppression of anti-government demonstrators following June 2009 elections.
"This is the first time the United States has imposed sanctions against Iran based on human rights abuses," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a press conference with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
"We would like to be able to tell you that it might be the last, but we fear not," she added.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that the eight targeted for sanctions "share responsibility for the sustained and severe violation of human rights in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election."
In the wake of the contested poll hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters defied a government ban and poured onto the streets of Tehran in protests that were the largest seen since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
In the first sanctions against Iran for alleged rights abuses, Obama issued an executive order that would also freeze the assets of the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the prosecutor general and the deputy head of the national police service.
The group, including Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, identified by the US as interior minister, was linked to the suppression of anti-government demonstrators following June 2009 elections.
"This is the first time the United States has imposed sanctions against Iran based on human rights abuses," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a press conference with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
"We would like to be able to tell you that it might be the last, but we fear not," she added.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that the eight targeted for sanctions "share responsibility for the sustained and severe violation of human rights in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election."
In the wake of the contested poll hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters defied a government ban and poured onto the streets of Tehran in protests that were the largest seen since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.