Britain said on Monday it had imposed sanctions on ten individuals, including Iran’s interior minister and its police chiefs in relation to their role “at the recent brutality against protesters” in Iran. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
Britain’s Foreign Office said it would be sanctioned from Monday Command of the Order Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FARAJA), Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, two officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian businessman with ties to the IRGC, and two judges.
The government in London specified that the latest measures introduced include: an asset freeze, a travel ban and a ban on acting as a director of a company under UK jurisdiction.
“The Iranian people have shown extraordinary courage in the face of brutality and repression in recent weeks, simply because they exercised their right to peaceful protest,” said British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.“The news and shocking scenes of violence that have been seen around the world are horrific,” Cooper said, adding that this package of sanctions aims to hold the Iranian authorities “accountable” for this repression.
Iranian authorities said that the protests were “riots” instigated by Iran’s arch-enemies, the United States and Israel. Tehran acknowledged thousands of deaths during the protests and on Sunday the presidential office released the names 2986 people out of a total of 3117 who, according to him, lost their lives in the riots. The authorities insist that most of them were members of the security forces and “innocent bystanders”, attributing the violence to “acts of terrorism”.
Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) based in the USA reported 6,842 confirmed deaths in Iran, including at least 5,777 protesters. Human rights groups warn, however, that these numbers may actually be much higher.
EDGE also stated that investigates another 17,091 cases. In addition 11,009 people reportedly suffered serious injuries. According to activists, the security forces detained 41,880 people. None of this data can be independently verified at this time.
