The EU recently added five individuals and two entities to its sanctions list for their alleged involvement in serious human rights violations in Iran. Among the designees is the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, the body that reportedly handles all investments for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”), and is, therefore, responsible for financing the regime’s brutal repression of protestors in Iran. The Council of the EU reports that, according to independent sources, the crackdown on protestors since September 2022 has resulted in more than 520 deaths, including 70 minors, and over 22,000 arrests/imprisonments. Additional designations include Nader Moradi, the Deputy Supervisor of Public Spaces of the Public Security Police, allegedly responsible for the enforcement of hijab laws which led to the crackdown on peaceful protestors; Saeed Montazer Al-Mahdi, the spokesman for the Iranian police (also known as the Law Enforcement Forces of Iran); and the Student Basij Organization (“SBO”), a group that acts as the IRGC’s violent enforcers on university campuses.
The restrictive measures, which were imposed under Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/986, consist of an asset freeze, travel ban, and a prohibition on making funds or economic resources available in the EU to listed persons. The EU has also banned the export of equipment to Iran that the regime might use for the internal repression of the Iranian people or for telecommunications monitoring.