Treasury Targets Human
RightsAbuses, Censorship, and Enhanced Monitoring by theIranian Government
Washington –
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) designated two Iranian entities for committing
serious human rightsabuses on behalf of the Government
of Iran, as well as three leaders of one of these entities, the
Ansar-e Hizballah organization.
Additionally, OFAC designated an
entity that has operated information or communications technology that facilitates
monitoring or tracking that could assist or enable serious human
rights abuses by or on behalf of the Government of Iran.
Finally, OFAC designated two
individuals for engaging in censorship activities that prohibit, limit, or
penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by citizens
of Iran, and one individual for acting for or on behalf of an entity
engaged in such censorship activities.
These designations come in the wake of
recent protests by the Iranian people and the regime’s subsequent
brutal crackdown.
“Iran not only exports terrorism and
instability across the world, it routinely violates the rights of its own
people.
The Iranian regime diverts
national resources that should belong to the people to fund a massive and
expensive censorship apparatus and suppress free speech,” said Treasury
Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
“Those who speak out against the regime’s
mismanagement and corruption are subject to abuse and mistreatment
in Iran’s prisons.
America stands with the people
of Iran, and Treasury is taking action to hold
the Iranian regime accountable for ongoing human
rights abuses, censorship, and other despicable acts it commits against
its own citizens.”
Today’s actions target
the Iranian regime’s repression of its own people and the suppression
of their freedoms of speech, expression, and peaceful assembly.
As President Trump emphasized in
his May 8, 2018 announcement of his decision to cease the United States’
participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), theUnited
States will not allow Iran’s malign behavior to go unchecked.
These actions show a desire to hold
malicious actors accountable for their actions even as they try to hide from
international scrutiny.
ANSAR-E
HIZBALLAH AND ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS
OFAC is designating Ansar-e Hizballah for its
role in serious human rights abuses inIran.
Additionally, OFAC designated three
individuals for acting for or on behalf of the organization.
Ansar-e Hizballah was designated pursuant
to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553 for being an official of the Government
of Iran or a person acting on behalf of the Government
of Iran (including members of paramilitary organizations) who is
responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering, controlling, or
otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses
against persons in Iran orIranian citizens or residents, or the
family members of the foregoing.
Ansar-e Hizballah has been involved in the
violent suppression of Iranian citizens and has collaborated with the
Basij to violently attack Iranian students with knives, tear gas, and
electric batons.
The Basij Resistance Force
was designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 on June 9, 2011 for committing
serious human rights abuses in Iran.
An organization supported by
the Iranian regime that harasses and attacks the Iranianpeople,
Ansar-e Hizballah has been linked to acid attacks against women in the city of
Isfahan.
Multiple women who were not dressed
in accordance with the regime’s standards had acid thrown at them, severely
injuring them and creating a climate of fear.
Abdolhamid Mohtasham is being designated pursuant
to E.O. 13553 for acting for or on behalf of Ansar-e Hizballah.
As a founding member and key leader of the
group, Abdolhamid Mohtasham plays a significant role in overseeing the group’s
actions.
He has threatened to use Ansar-e Hizballah to
patrol Iranian streets and attack women whom he deems to be
unvirtuous.
Hossein Allahkaram is being designated pursuant
to E.O. 13553 for acting for or on behalf of Ansar-e Hizballah.
In 2011 the European Union sanctioned
Hossein Allahkaram for co-founding and leading Ansar-e Hezbollah, noting
that under his leadership the group used extreme violence during multiple
crackdowns on student protestors.
Lastly, Hamid Ostad is being designated pursuant
to E.O. 13553 for acting for or on behalf of Ansar-e Hizballah. Hamid
Ostad, who founded the Mashhad branch of Ansar-e Hizballah, was implicated in a
mob attack against the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Mashhad.
EVIN PRISON
OFAC is designating Evin Prison pursuant to
Executive Order (E.O.) 13553 for being a person acting on behalf of the
Government of Iran (including members of paramilitary organizations)
who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible for ordering,
controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human
rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens
or residents, or the family members of the foregoing.
Prisoners held at Evin Prison are subject to
brutal tactics inflicted by prison authorities, including sexual assaults,
physical assaults, and electric shock.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security
(MOIS) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) maintain permanent wards in
Evin Prison where they hold political prisoners.
And while senior regime officials regularly
downplay the torture and abuse that occurs in Evin Prison, the abuse
of prisoners, including political prisoners, continues once
sham inspections into the prison conditions end.
Iran’s MOIS was designated pursuant to E.O.
13553 on February 16, 2012 for committing serious human rights abuses
in Iran.
The IRGC was designated pursuant to Executive
Order 13553 on June 9, 2011 for committing serious human
rights abuses in Iran.
HANISTA
PROGRAMMING GROUP
OFAC is designating Iran-based Hanista
Programing Group pursuant to E.O. 13606 for having operated, or having directed
the operation of, information and communications technology that facilitates
computer or network disruption, monitoring, or tracking that could assist in or
enable serious human rights abuses by or on behalf of the Government
of Iran.
Hanista Programing Group is responsible for
creating and distributing alternative versions of the popular messaging and
social media application Telegram that facilitate
the Iranian regime’s monitoring and tracking of Iranian and
international users.
Hanista Programing Group developed two social
media applications called Mobogram and MoboPlus and embedded malicious content
in them that facilitates the monitoring and tracking
of Iranian citizens. This monitoring and tracking functionality
could assist or enable serious human rights abuses by the Government
of Iran, including the IRGC and MOIS.
Designation of Two Iranian Regime
Officials for Censorship Activities
OFAC is designating Abolhassan Firouzabadi and
Abdolsamad Khoramabadi pursuant to E.O. 13628 for having engaged in censorship
or other activities with respect to Iranthat prohibit, limit, or penalize
the exercise of freedom of expression or peaceful assembly by citizens
of Iran, or that limit access to print or broadcast media.
Abolhassan Firouzabadi is responsible for
the Iranian government’s efforts to block social media applications
like Telegram and to force Iranians to use state-run applications
that are monitored by the regime.
As the Secretary
of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, Abolhassan Firouzabadi heads
the country’s top Internet policymaking body and oversees the regime’s attempts
to censor speech and media.
The Supreme Council of Cyberspace was designated
pursuant to E.O. 13628 on January 12, 2018.
As the Secretary of the Committee to Determine
Instances of Criminal Content, Abdolsamad Khoramabadi has overseen the
filtering and blocking of political content during elections.
In 2017, Abdolsamad Khoramabadi tasked the Basij to lead the regime’s
crackdown on cyber activity, and claimed that the country had thousands of
monitors to report violations of websites and social media networks.
The Committee to Determine Instances of Criminal
Content was designated pursuant to E.O. 13628 on May 30, 2013.
DESIGNATION OF
THE DIRECTOR OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRANBROADCASTING (IRIB)
Lastly, OFAC is designating Abdulali Ali-Asgari
pursuant to E.O. 13628 for acting for or on behalf of IRIB.
Abdulali Ali-Asgari is the current Director
General of IRIB and has acted on behalf of the organization, including
representing the organization in international for a.
The IRIB was designated pursuant to E.O. 13628 on
February 6, 2013 for restricting or denying the free flow of information to or
from the Iranian people. IRIB was implicated in censoring
multiple media outlets and airing forced confessions
from politicaldetainees.
As a result of these actions, all property and
interests in property of the persons designated today that are in
the United States or in the possession or control of U.S.persons
must be blocked and reported to OFAC, and U.S. persons are generally
prohibited from engaging in transactions with such persons.
In addition, foreign financial
institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for, or persons
that provide material or certain other support to, the individuals and entities
designated today risk exposure to sanctions that could sever their access to
the U.S.financial system or block their property and interests in property
subject to U.S.jurisdiction.
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