EU Issues Sanctions Against Iranian Military Commanders
The European Union has issued sanctions, including travel bans and freezing of assets, against eight Iranian militia commanders and police chiefs. The sanctions, the first imposed on Iran by the EU since 2013, are in response to a crackdown in Iran during civilian protests in November 2019 over a dramatic rise in the price of petrol as well as rationing, that left up to 1,500 people dead, Reuters reported, citing figures provided by three Iranian interior ministry officials at the time. The United Nations put the number of dead at around 300.
Among those being sanctioned is Hossein Salami, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the country’s elite military service. The assets of three Iranian prisons also are being frozen.
The sanctions were announced on Monday in the EU’s Official Journal, according to Reuters. “Hossein Salami took part in the sessions that resulted in the orders to use lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests. Hossein Salami therefore bears responsibility for serious human rights violations in Iran,” according to the EU announcement.