The United States issued a new round of Iran sanctions on Wednesday targeting 12 individuals who it said were tied to Tehran's "ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people," including its "brutal crackdown on peaceful protests."
The sanctions, which come two years after the death of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amin in police custody, target members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian prison officials "and those responsible for lethal operations overseas," the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
The Treasury Department said Iran's security forces, including the IRGC and its Basij paramilitary force, had led a crackdown on peaceful protests in cities all over Iran.
IRGC units had used lethal force against protesters, arrested people for political expression, attempted to intimidate the Iranian people, and repressed prisoners protesting difficult living conditions through violence, it said.
Australia and Canada also issuing sanctions
US State Department stated that they are issuing the sanctions in coordination with Australia and Canada, who are also rolling out new sanctions this week against those responsible in Iran for human rights violations.
The State Department also said that their sanctions actions "are just one of the many ways the United States supports the human rights of the Iranian people."