The U.S. Department of the Treasury has added Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s head of judiciary, together with eight other officials from the Islamic Republic to its list of sanctioned individuals. The reason for their decision is the wide range of human rights violations committed by him, including his membership in the death committee, responsible for the death of thousands of political prisoners in 1989.
November 10th, 2019: The U.S. Department of the Treasury has added Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s head of judiciary, together with eight other officials from the Islamic Republic to its list of sanctioned individuals. The reason for their decision is the wide range of human rights violations committed by him, including his membership in the death committee, responsible for the death of thousands of political prisoners in 1989.
The Treasury’s announcement was published on the anniversary of the day dozens of American embassy diplomats and staff were taken hostage in 1980. It states that the selected individuals were either directly chosen by Iran’s Supreme Leader, or act on behalf of the Supreme Leader. The statement refers to these nine individuals as Ali Khemeni’s “inner circle” responsible for “destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives”.
Mojtaba Khamenei (the son of Ali Khamenei), Ebraim Raisi (the head of Iran’s judiciary), Mohammad Mohmmadi Golpayegani (the Supreme Leader’s Chief of staff), Vahid Haghanian (the Supreme Leaders executive deputy), Ali Akbar Velayati (the senior advisor to Ali Khamanei in international affairs), Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel (the senior advisor to the Supreme Leader), Mohammad Bagheri (a General of Iran’s Armed Forces), Hossein Dehghan (the military aide for the Defense Industries and Armed Forces Logistics), Gholam Ali Rashid (the commander of the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters) are among the officials of the Islamic Republic included on the Treasury’s new list of sanctioned individuals.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader’s second son, enjoys highly influential power in the Supreme Leader’s institution. During the 2009 protests to election results, Mojtabah Khamenei was referred to as the commander of the security forces, in charge of the oppressions.
Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi is the current head of Iran’s judiciary and has overseen a wide range of human rights violations in the country since 1980. These violations include his membership at the 1989 death commission, the mass killing of political prisoners in the same year, and his participation in the arrest, torture and execution of many protestors who contested the 2009 election results.
Vahid Haghanian who has been the Supreme Leaders executive deputy since 2001, is also complicit in the oppression of the post 2009 election protests, as well as the nationwide 2017 protests.
The recent list of sanctioned individuals follows the Executive Order of the President of the United State, which was issued in July 2019. Based on this order, Iran’s Supreme Leader himself, all positions directly appointed by him, institutions he oversees, and all legal entities or individuals who are directly or indirectly connected to this network, will face international prosecutions.
In a statement about this executive order, Justice for Iran announced that many within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ruling class who have ordered or perpetrated serious human rights violations will be subjected to international punitive measures.
