US hits top Iranian officials for human rights abuses

The US government imposed sanctions on Wednesday on an Iranian government minister and senior law enforcement and military officials over human rights abuses. "The Iranian regime violently suppresses dissent of the Iranian people, including peaceful protests, through physical and psychological abuse," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "The United States will continue to hold accountable Iranian officials and institutions that oppress and abuse their own people."

The sanctions, the latest in a series of measures against the Iranian regime, target Interior Minister and chair of Iran's National Domestic Security Council (NDSC), Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, seven law enforcement officials and an IRGC commander. The Treasury alleged that Rahmani Fazli has issued orders authorizing Iran's Law Enforcement Force to use "lethal force in response to the November 2019 protests.