On September 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control joined Canadian and Australian authorities to designate individuals who had a role in Iran’s violent repression of the people in Iran. OFAC announced that it designated a total of 12 individuals, including several leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”); officials that oversee Iran’s prison system known for its cruelty and torture of inmates; and members of Iran’s intelligence community, including Hamid Zareikajosangi, a field operative responsible for recruiting assets outside of Iran for the IRGC-QF’s infamous Department 840.
All OFAC designees were sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order 13553, which targets persons involved in serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of these designees within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving designated persons. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked, and any foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates a significant transaction for, or on behalf of, a blocked person could be subject to U.S. correspondent or payable-through account sanctions.
On the same day, Canadian authorities sanctioned five Iranian political figures for their role in violent repression of protestors and to mark the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old Iranian national who died while in the custody of Iran’s so-called morality police on September 16, 2022. Australian officials also marked the second anniversary of Amini’s tragic death by imposing targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranian individuals on September 16, 2024. The designees include senior security and law enforcement officials who have been complicit in the violent repression of protestors in Iran.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | U.S. Department of State Press Statement | Government of Canada News Release | Australian Government Media Release