The U.S. Sanctions 'Abar Arvan' for Assisting Internet Censorship in Iran

On Friday, June 2, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against the technology company 'Abar Arvan', two of its founders, and an affiliated company for their role in facilitating internet censorship in Iran. According to the Treasury Department's statement, 'Abar Arvan' is a key partner of Iran's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in developing the 'National Information Network', or national internet, which is used to cut off Iranians' access to the global internet. The statement adds that 'Abar Arvan' has close ties with the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies, including the Ministry of Intelligence, and its executives have close relationships with Islamic Republic officials. The OFAC statement indicates that the Islamic Republic regularly uses internet speed reductions to suppress dissent, monitor and punish Iranians for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in both virtual and real spaces, and limit the dissemination of accurate information about egregious human rights violations. Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that free and unrestricted access to the internet is a fundamental right of all nations, including Iranians, and that the United States is committed to holding accountable those individuals and regimes that suppress freedom of expression and dissent. The sanctioned entities include Abar Arvan, which has played a significant role in developing the 'National Information Network'. Among the company's activities is its participation in controlling and censoring data traffic and blocking certain websites at the request of the 'Working Group for Determining Criminal Content'. The company has close ties with the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies, including the Ministry of Intelligence, and its current officials are current and former members of the Ministry of Intelligence. Pouya Pirhosseinloo and Farhad Fatemi are two of the founders of Abar Arvan. Pirhosseinloo currently serves as the CEO of Abar Arvan, while Fatemi works as the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Engineer at the company. Abar Arvan Global Technologies LLC is a subsidiary of Abar Arvan based in Dubai, acting as a bridge between Abar Arvan and the global internet. Senior managers and employees of Abar Arvan, including Pirhosseinloo and Fatemi, serve as managers, maintainers, and administrative points of contact for the IP addresses and domain of this Dubai-based company. As a result of these sanctions, all property and interests of these individuals in the U.S. will be blocked. Additionally, the assets of any entity that is directly or indirectly 50 percent or more owned by one or more sanctioned individuals will also be blocked. On Thursday, OFAC also sanctioned five members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for 'conspiracy to commit murder' outside of Iran.