The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting the top official in Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security in response to Tehran’s brutal crackdown on protesters the past two weeks.
In a statement, OFAC said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s SCNS, oversaw the law enforcement apparatus in the Islamic republic that deployed violent countermeasures against the “legitimate demands of the Iranian people.”
“The officials sanctioned today — and their organizations — bear responsibility for the thousands of deaths and injuries of their fellow citizens as protests erupted in each of these provinces,” the statement reads.
While exact figures are difficult to confirm, international human rights organizations have attested that tactics used by Iranian authorities against protesters over the past 18 days have resulted in over 2,000 deaths. Some reports testify that police have fired automatic weapons into crowds of protesters and have deployed sniper teams on rooftops.
OFAC also issued sanctions on 18 people who Treasury said were responsible for laundering Iran’s oil profits received from foreign powers, namely China, which accounts for over 90% of Iran’s petroleum exports.
The new sanctions target several rahbar companies established by Iran’s Bank Melli, a commercial institution run by Tehran. Rahbar companies are client organizations set up by the bank to manage and disguise foreign transactions, OFAC said.
OFAC specifically targeted the UAE-based Empire International Trading FZE, which Treasury alleges is a Bank Melli rahbar company responsible for handling billions of dollars in foreign currency last year alone.
The new economic restrictions are part of President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.
Since the start of his second term, Mr. Trump’s Treasury Department has leveled dozens of sanctions targeting Iranian oil profits, hoping to curb Tehran’s remaining economic lifeline.
Amid mixed evidence regarding the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s shadow fleet and shadow banking sector, the country’s overall economy continues to plummet. The country’s rial currency has faced record lows this month, reaching 1.4 million per $1 on the open market.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday that Iran’s failing economy means that maximum pressure is working.
“The regime continues to egregiously mismanage its economic resources with additional subsidies and price controls,” Mr. Bessent said in a video. “Rather than building a prosperous Iran, the regime has chosen to squander what remains of the nation’s oil revenue on nuclear weapons development, missiles and terrorist proxies around the world.”
