The UK, US and EU are today announcing further sanctions on Iranian regime officials responsible for human rights violations, including from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The UK has designated more than 70 Iranian officials and entities for human rights violations since October 2022, with the total number of Iran-related designations amounting to more than 300. The list includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety, the Iranian Prosecutor General and the Morality Police.

The UK, US and EU have taken consistent and coordinated action to hold the regime to account, announcing sanctions on a monthly basis on those response for human rights abuses. The latest UK sanctions are against four IRGC Commanders, under whose leadership IRGC forces have opened fire on unarmed protestors resulting in numerous deaths, including of children, and have arbitrarily detained and tortured protestors.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

“The Iranian regime are responsible for the brutal repression of the Iranian people and for exporting bloodshed around the world. That’s why we have more than 300 sanctions in place on Iran, including on the IRGC in its entirety.

“The UK and our international partners are again making clear today that we will not overlook the regime’s brutal oppression. We will continue to take a range of action to hold the regime to account for its actions.”

Those sanctioned include:

• Mohammad Nazar Azimi - IRGC Commander Najaf Ashraf West HQ, responsible for the violent repression of protests in Kermanshah Province, with IRGC forces using machine guns against unarmed protestors resulting in multiple deaths.
• Habib Shahsavari - IRGC Commander provincial corps West Azerbaijan Province, responsible for repression of protestors in Mahabad and Piranshahr, with IRGC forces using heavy weapons that resulted in multiple deaths. IRGC forces are accused of the death of protestors following torture in detention facilities.
• Mohsen Karimi - IRGC commander Markazi Province, responsible for the violent repression of protests, including 19 year old protestor Mehrshad Shahidi who was reportedly beaten to death in an IRGC detention centre,  and the arrest of women for failing to wear the hijab (head covering) in public.
• Ahmad Kadem - IRGC Commander of the Operational Base Karbala, responsible for the repression of protests in the town of Izeh, Khuzestan Province, during which a 10-year old child was shot and killed. IRGC forces under the command of Kadem in Kohgilyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province are blamed for the abduction of a child labour activist who subsequently died after torture.

The UK has also played a leading role in international efforts to hold the Iranian regime to account for its repression, for example through working with partners to kick Iran off the UN Commission on the Status of Women and to establish a UN-led investigation into the response to the protests.

These sanctions will ensure that the individuals on the list cannot travel to the UK and any of their assets held in the UK will be frozen. Photo by Sasan Geranmehr, Wikimedia commons.