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

Washington: 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.