UK sanctions have been imposed on senior Iranian political and security figures – and so-called ethics police – following Mahsa Amini’s death in custody.
22 years old died last month after being detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.
In response, the UK sanctioned the country’s entire ethics police, as well as police chief Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi and Tehran department head Haj Ahmed Mirzaei.
The UK is also imposing sanctions on:
• Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
• Hassan Karami, commander of the NAJA Special Forces Unit of the Iranian police
• Hossein Ashtari, commander-in-chief of the Iranian police
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Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “The UK stands with the people of Iran who are bravely calling for accountability from their government and for their basic human rights to be respected.
“These sanctions send a clear message to the Iranian authorities – we will hold you accountable for the oppression of women and girls as well as for the violence that causes violence. the shock you have caused your own people.”
Sanctions aimed at ensuring listed individuals cannot travel to the UK, and any assets held by them in the UK, or by people in the UK anywhere, will be closed. ice.
“For decades, the ethics police have used threats of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and how they behave in public,” the Foreign Office said.
A police motorcycle caught fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini
It also cited what it described as reports of the use of live ammunition against protesters and that the bodies of protesters killed by security services were buried without their families knowing. know.
Last week, the Foreign Office summoned Iran’s highest-ranking diplomat in the UK, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, about the country’s crackdown on protests.
Protests continued across Iran over the death on September 16.
The Iranian government insists Ms. Amini was not abused, but her family says her body shows bruises and other signs of beatings.
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