OFAC Sanctions Iranian Officials, Economic Collaborative

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iranian officials and a group controlled by the country’s law enforcement authority for human rights abuses, Treasury said May 20. The designations target Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran’s interior minister, seven senior officials of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces and a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The sanctions also target the LEF Cooperative Foundation -- an “economic collaborative” controlled by the LEF -- along with its director and board of trustees.

The LEF, which operates in Iran’s energy, construction, services, technology and banking sectors, plays a “key role” in aiding the government’s crackdown on protests, Treasury said. Fazli has ordered the LEF to use “lethal force” to quash protests and has overseen other human rights violations, Treasury said.

Others sanctioned include LEF commander Hossein Ashtari Fard, deputy commander Ayoub Soleimani and senior officials Mohsen Fathi Zadeh, Yahya Mahmoodzadeh, Hamidraza Ashraq and Mohammad Ali Noorinajad. OFAC also designated IRGC commander Hassan Shahvarpour Najafabadi and LEF Cooperative Foundation managing director Habil Darvish. Two additional entities were sanctioned: The Great Tehran Penitentiary and Qarchak Prison.