The United States has imposed new sanctions against Iran, targeting political and security officials over the crackdown on antigovernment protesters, amid US President Donald Trump’s threats to intervene militarily against the country.
The US penalties on Thursday targeted Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), and several other officials, who it said were the “architects” of Tehran’s “brutal” response to the demonstrations.
“The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“At the direction of President Trump, the Treasury Department is sanctioning key Iranian leaders involved in the brutal crackdown against the Iranian people. Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights.”
The sanctions freeze the individuals’ assets in the US and make it illegal for American citizens to do business with them.
With Iran already under heavy sanctions, the measures are largely symbolic, but they signal mounting US pressure against Iran amid the protests. Larijani is a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Earlier this week, after Trump called on Iranians to “take over” public institutions and “save the names of the killers and abusers”, Larijani was quick to respond, accusing Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of killing Iranians.
“We declare the names of the main killers of the people of Iran: 1- Trump 2- Netanyahu,” he wrote on X.
Thousands of protesters are believed to have been killed in the wave of demonstrations that gripped Iran since the start of the year, according to several activist groups.
The Iranian government has described the demonstrators as armed rioters, egged on by the US and Israel to spread chaos, saying that more than 100 security officers have been killed by armed attacks during the demonstrations.
Al Jazeera is not able to independently verify these figures.
Authorities have also imposed an internet blackout on the country, making it difficult to verify the death toll as well as claims from both sides.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Channel 14, which is aligned with Netanyahu, reported that “foreign actors” are arming protesters in Iran to target government personnel.
After Trump escalated his rhetoric for days, a US attack on Iran appeared imminent late on Wednesday.
Iran shut down its airspace; several Israeli towns opened their bomb shelters; and the US withdrew some personnel from the region.
Iran had threatened a severe response against any US attack.
But as the world held its breath in anticipation of the strikes, Trump softened his position, saying that he had been told that the killing of protesters had stopped.
“They [Iranian officials] said people were shooting at them with guns, and they were shooting back,” Trump said. “And you know, it’s one of those things, but they told me that there will be no executions, and so I hope that’s true.”
He reiterated that message on Thursday, saying that it is “good news” that Iran will not be executing protesters.
In June, Israel attacked Iran without provocation, killing dozens of top military officials and nuclear scientists, as well as hundreds of civilians.
Trump has said he was “very much in charge” of the Israeli onslaught, which culminated in the US bombing Iran’s main nuclear facilities before a ceasefire was reached.
Before the protests erupted in Iran, Trump last threatened to bomb the country again if it rebuilds its nuclear or missile programmes as he hosted Netanyahu in the US state of Florida.
The US is also intensifying its economic sanctions against Iran with the aim of choking Tehran’s oil sales.
On Thursday, the US Department of the Treasury announced new measures against 18 firms and individuals that it said are involved in Iran’s energy exports.