The US and UK Sanction 11 Individuals Linked to the Islamic Republic for 'Transnational Repression'

On Monday, February 9, the United States and the United Kingdom jointly sanctioned 11 individuals for their "connections to a criminal network that has planned the assassination of regime opponents abroad at the behest of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US State Department, stated, "We believe that the individuals placed on the sanctions list today were part of a network that has carried out actions aimed at transnational repression, including multiple assassinations and kidnappings, and has also planned operations in the United States." The US Treasury Department imposes these sanctions following the unsealing of an indictment by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In this context, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury also stated that this network is led by an Iranian drug trafficker named Najib Ibrahim Sharifi Zandishti and operates under the orders of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Zandishti network has carried out various transnational repressive actions, including assassination and kidnapping in various jurisdictions in the United States, aimed at silencing known critics of the Iranian regime. The statement noted that the UK also sanctioned Mohammad Reza Ansari, who had previously been placed on the sanctions list by OFAC. Brian Nelson, the US Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that the US, along with its allies and international partners, will continue to use all available leverage to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its efforts to expand transnational repression and its ongoing human rights violations against its own people and its actions to create instability in the Middle East and beyond. The department's statement indicated that the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have long targeted regime opponents outside Iran, a practice that has intensified in recent years, with a wide range of opponents, journalists, activists, and former Iranian officials being targeted for assassination, kidnapping, and hacking in various countries across the Middle East, Europe, and North America. The statement referenced the kidnapping of Jamshid Sharmeh, who was sentenced to death after a sham trial, the assassination of Ahmad Mola Nissi, a Dutch-Ahwazi activist, in The Hague, and the kidnapping of Ruhollah Zam, a journalist who was tortured and executed. The US Department of Justice announced on Monday in a statement with further details that one Iranian and two Canadian nationals were charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce to lure someone for assassination. According to court documents, Najib Sharifi Zandishti, 48, Damien Patrick John Ryan, 43, and Adam Richard Pearson, 29, had conspired from late November 2020 to late February 2021 to kill two residents of Maryland. The defendants, one of whom resides in Iran, used an encrypted messaging service called "Sky ECC" as their communication tool. They utilized this messaging service to recruit individuals traveling to the United States with the intent of killing opponents of the Iranian regime, discussing the identity and location of potential victims, planning logistical details and how to "carry out these killings," and negotiating payment for this "work" in Maryland. The intended victims of this conspiracy, who were living in Maryland at the time, had fled to the United States after one of them left Iran. Concurrently with the unsealing of the indictment on Monday, February 9, the Treasury Department sanctioned the criminal network led by Zandishti, which targeted opponents and activists against the Iranian government for kidnapping and assassination at the regime's orders. The department emphasized in its statement that the issued indictment sends a clear message to those in Iran planning to kill individuals on US soil and the criminal agents working with them that the Department of Justice will pursue you no matter how long it takes - and wherever you are - and will seek justice. According to the Treasury Department, as a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of these individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of these individuals in the United States must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Sanctions generally prohibit all transactions by US persons or within the United States (including transactions that transit through the United States) involving any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons. Additionally, individuals participating in certain transactions with designated persons today may themselves be subject to sanctions. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the designated individuals today may also be subject to US sanctions.