Anniversary of Mahsa; the US sanctions dozens of officials and institutions responsible for the violent suppression of protesters

The United States, on the first anniversary of the killing of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in the custody of the morality police, announced sanctions against 29 officials and institutions, as well as visa restrictions against 13 officials of the Islamic Republic. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department, OFAC, announced on Friday, September 15, that it has sanctioned 29 officials and institutions responsible for the violent suppression of peaceful Iranian protesters. Brian Nelson, the US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for Financial and Terrorism, stated that on the eve of the 'heartbreaking and brutal' anniversary of Mahsa's death in the custody of the morality police, 'we remember the movement of men and women across Iran from various religions and ethnicities who have faced horrific violence, mass imprisonment, and systematic internet disruption by the Iranian regime.' He added, 'The United States, along with the UK, Canada, Australia, and other international allies and partners, will continue collective actions against the Iranian human rights violators.' Concurrently, the US Department of State announced visa restrictions against 13 officials and individuals responsible for the detention or suppression of peaceful protesters or for violating their freedoms of expression or assembly, including through internet censorship. Since Mahsa's death, the US has imposed visa restrictions on 40 officials and individuals responsible for the suppression of peaceful Iranian protesters. The sanctioned individuals and reasons for their sanctions include: Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi: Spokesman for the Iranian police (FARAJA), directly involved in planning and announcing strict policies of the police force against women opposing mandatory hijab. Hossein Amjadiyan: Commander of the special forces in Tehran and former commander of the special forces in Isfahan. The special forces units are the main force suppressing protesters and are responsible for serious human rights violations across the country. Abbas Ali Mohammadian: Commander of the police force in Tehran province. Hassan Shahristani: Police commander of Mazandaran province and former head of the morality police. He has ordered his subordinates to 'break the necks' of opponents of the mandatory hijab. He has also warned business owners that if their female employees remove their hijabs, their businesses will be shut down. Ahmad Taheri: Police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan on the 'Bloody Friday' of Zahedan, during which police killed 60 to 100 Zahedani protesters, including children, and injured at least 350 others. Ahmad Naderian: Deputy police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan. Seyed Khalil Safavi: Current police commander of Roudbar in Gilan province and police commander of Rasht at the time of the killing of at least three protesters and the injury of several others on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Delavar Alghasi Mehr: Police commander of East Tehran province and former police commander of Shiraz city and Ilam province. Mohammad Mozaffari Goudarzi: Head of preventive police in Tehran. While serving as deputy police commander in Karaj, he was responsible for suppressing the protests in November 2019 in Karaj. The forces under his command are responsible for the killing of at least 10 protesters. Roham Bakhsh Habibi: Police commander of Fars province and responsible for suppressing protesters in November 2019. Khodarahm Sarani: Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Zahedan. The IRGC forces violently suppressed unarmed protesters in Zahedan in February 2021, resulting in the deaths and injuries of several individuals, including a 13-year-old child. The IRGC also shot at Baluch fuel carriers protesting the closure of a border crossing, killing at least 10 fuel carriers. Mazaher Majidi: Commander of the IRGC in Hamadan province and responsible for the units suppressing protests. Security forces in this province have violently suppressed protests. Majidi stated that in October alone last year, over 700 protesters were arrested in Hamadan. Bahman Reyhani: Commander of the Nabi Akram Corps in Kermanshah, whose units are responsible for suppressing protesters and opponents. In the November 2019 protests, 1,230 people were arrested in Kermanshah. He ordered IRGC units to attack protesters mourning Mahsa's death in the town of Javanrud. Jamal Shakermi: Commander of the IRGC in Ilam province and responsible for suppressing protesters and opponents in this province. In the protests on Thursday, June 1 of this year, at least 20 protesters were injured due to direct fire from security forces in Ilam province. Mohammad Abdollahpour: Commander of the Quds Force in Gilan, who has played a role in implementing strict policies against women opposing the mandatory hijab. He has also overseen the suppression of protesters mourning Mahsa's death by the IRGC. Gholam Hossein Ghaibpour: Deputy commander of the IRGC at the Imam Ali Central Security Headquarters. Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian: Commander of the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Ground Forces Corps of the IRGC and former deputy coordinator of the Ground Forces of the IRGC. Abdolreza Abedzadeh: New commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters. Gholam Ali Mohammadi: Head of the Prisons Organization, under whose leadership serious human rights violations have occurred across Iran, including violent arrests and torture of political opponents and religious minorities, as well as sexual abuse of female and child prisoners. Iranian prisoners have been deprived of vital health services under his presidency, resulting in several deaths. Alireza Abedinejad: CEO of Dadeh Pardazan Doran Company, which assists the Islamic Republic in internet censorship and filtering. Amir Najafianfar: Chairman of the board of Doran Company. Soheila Kasai: Deputy chair of the board of Doran Company. Yaftar Research Company: In collaboration with the working group determining the criteria for criminal content, designs and uses tools to 'crawl' leading search engines to identify and censor 'criminal' content from the group's perspective. This company also collaborates with the Iranian Attorney General to block VPNs. Press TV: The English-language news network of the Islamic Republic, which has aired forced confessions (in some cases before trial) and derogatory programs about Iranian activists. This network is also used by Iranian intelligence to recruit American citizens. Tasnim News Agency: Established by two IRGC commanders and variously covers the IRGC and other repressive tools of the Islamic Republic. Majid Gholizadeh and Hamid Reza Moghadamfar: CEOs of Tasnim News Agency, controlling this agency on behalf of the IRGC. Fars News Agency: An agency close to the IRGC that has provided special intelligence reports to Hossein Salami. This news agency closely collaborates with the deputy head of the Basij regarding internal security concerns in Iran. Payam Tirandaz: CEO of Fars News Agency, former member of the Basij, and former employee of the Islamic Republic Broadcasting, playing a central role in supporting this agency's malicious activities.