said<\/a> on Thursday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned key figures involved in directing Iran\u2019s response to protests that began in December, as well as individuals and entities linked to clandestine financial networks used to launder revenue from Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the actions were taken at the direction of President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among those sanctioned is Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme Council for National Security, whom Treasury said was among the first officials to call for violence against protesters and coordinated the regime\u2019s response on behalf of Iran\u2019s supreme leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OFAC also designated 18 individuals and entities accused of playing critical roles in laundering proceeds from Iranian oil and petrochemical exports through so-called \u201cshadow banking\u201d networks linked to Bank Melli and Shahr Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Treasury said Iranian security forces have fired live ammunition at protesters since demonstrations began, and that elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have attacked wounded protesters and medical staff, including at a hospital in Ilam Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials sanctioned also include regional commanders of Iran\u2019s law enforcement forces and the IRGC in Lorestan and Fars provinces, which Treasury said were sites of widespread violence against civilians, mass casualties, and intimidation of victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Treasury said the funds generated through the targeted financial networks were used to finance domestic repression and support for militant groups abroad, rather than to address Iran\u2019s economic crisis, inflation, and deficits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The designations block the sanctioned individuals and entities from accessing U.S. assets and generally prohibit Americans from engaging in transactions with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,\u201d Bessent said. “Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime\u2019s tyrannical oppression of human rights.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States imposed new sanctions on senior Iranian officials and financial networks tied to Tehran\u2019s crackdown on anti-government protests, targeting security leaders and shadow banking operations accused of enabling repression and sanctions evasion, according to the Treasury Department. The U.S. Department of the Treasury said on Thursday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":63506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4169,552,3470,101,2893],"class_list":["post-63588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-2026-iran-protests","tag-iran","tag-sanctions","tag-trump-administration","tag-u-s-department-of-treasury"],"yoast_head":"\n
U.S. sanctions Iranian officials over violent crackdown on protests - BNO News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bnonews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/u-s-sanctions-iranian-officials-over-violent-crackdown-on-protests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U.S. sanctions Iranian officials over violent crackdown on protests - BNO News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The United States imposed new sanctions on senior Iranian officials and financial networks tied to Tehran\u2019s crackdown on anti-government protests, targeting security leaders and shadow banking operations accused of enabling repression and sanctions evasion, according to the Treasury Department. 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