Foreign Ministry Calls Sanctions on Qassem Soleimani's Brother 'Violation of International Human Rights'

The spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry described the U.S. sanctions against the Tehran Provincial Prisons Organization and its former head as 'interventionist,' 'illegitimate and illegal,' and 'a violation of fundamental principles of international law and international human rights.' According to the state-run news agency IRNA, Bahram Qasemi stated on Friday, April 14, that the U.S. government 'is not in a position to comment or take action regarding human rights in other countries due to its dismal domestic and international record.' He characterized the U.S. sanctions for alleged human rights violations as 'repetitive actions aimed at specific political goals of the U.S. government,' 'a violation of fundamental principles of international law and international human rights,' and 'illegitimate and illegal.' Qasemi emphasized that 'no international body or authority' has given the U.S. government the responsibility to examine the human rights situation in other countries. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also viewed the U.S. human rights sanctions as 'a pretext to cover up the human rights issues in that country and... its support for what he described as 'systematic and gross human rights violations' by some U.S. allies in the region, particularly Israel. The U.S. Treasury Department had placed the Tehran Provincial Prisons Organization and Sohrab Soleimani, the former head of this organization and brother of Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force, on its sanctions list on Thursday, April 13. The U.S. Treasury stated that these sanctions were imposed due to the involvement of this organization and its former head in human rights violations in Iran. The European Union also extended sanctions against 82 individuals and one legal entity in Iran for 'serious human rights violations' until April 13, 2018. Meanwhile, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament, reacted to these sanctions on Friday, stating that the European Union is 'following' the policies of the U.S. and Israel in confronting Iran. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also noted that the extension of the EU sanctions indicates that this union 'does not have a correct and realistic understanding of the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.'