The US sanctions Iran’s morality police after Mahsa Amini’s death
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 23, 2022
- . Update: September 23, 2022 1:27 pm
The United States (US) on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police, accusing it of using violence against Iranian women and violating the rights of peaceful Iranian protesters.
The U.S. Treasury said that the US had put sanctions on the head of the Iranian army’s ground forces and the head of the morality police as well as on Iran’s minister of intelligence. The US held Iran’s morality police responsible for the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, who died in custody last week after being arrested in Tehran, the capital of Iran, for wearing “unsuitable attire.”
The Treasury Department sanctioned the head of the morality police, Mohammad Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi, and Haj Ahmad Mirzaei, who served as the head of its Tehran division during Amini’s detention and death. It also sanctioned Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, Basij Resistance Forces, the Army’s Ground Forces, and Law Enforcement Forces.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement, “Mahsa Amini was a courageous woman whose death in Morality Police custody was another act of brutality by the Iranian regime’s security forces.”
Read | Iran Unrest: Anti-Hijab protests rock Iran over an Iranian woman’s death in custody
Earlier, the UN’s Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, issued a statement and demanded justice for the woman. The Iranian Women’s Association in Victoria (IWA) also said that Mahsa’s death was tragic and demanded justice for the woman.
As per the reports by an Oslo-based NGO, at least 31 civilians have been killed in Iran. During protests, Iranian security forces opened fire at protesters, injuring many people and killing 31 civilians.
Iran Human Rights (IHR) director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, said that 11 people were killed on Wednesday night in the town of Amol in Iran.
The protests erupted across Iran after the death of the woman. Many women in Iran started burning their hijabs. Anti-Hijab protests erupted in all major cities of Iran.
