PRESS RELEASE : UK imposes further coordinated sanctions on Iranian regime officials [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 January 2023.

The Foreign Secretary has announced further sanctions on Iranian regime officials, including on Deputy Prosecutor General Ahmad Fazelian.

The UK is placing further sanctions on regime officials in Iran today, including on Deputy Prosecutor General Ahmad Fazelian.

These sanctions, alongside designations by the European Union and the United States, demonstrate the international community’s unified condemnation of the horrific violence the Iranian regime is inflicting on its own people, including the execution of dual British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari.

Alongside the Prosecutor General in Iran, whom the UK sanctioned last week, Fazelian is responsible for a judicial system characterised by unfair trials and egregious punishments, including use of the death penalty for political purposes. Last week Alireza Akbari tragically became a victim of this brutal system.

The list of sanctions imposed today also includes:

• Kiyumars Heidari, Commander in Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ground Forces – Heidari has publicly admitted to his and his force’s involvement in the violent response to the November 2019 protests that led to the death of at least hundreds of protesters, and he continues to order the repression of protests today.
• Hossein Nejat, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Sarallah HQ – Sarallah is the division of the IRGC responsible for the security of Tehran, where we have seen some of the most brutal violence against the Iranian people.
• The Basij Resistance Force – The Basij force within the IRGC are mobilized by the regime leadership to enforce the brutal repression on the streets of Iran.
• Salar Abnoush, Deputy Commander of the Basij –  Abnoush has publicly described his command-and-control role over Basij forces and continues to lead their repressive tactics today.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Those sanctioned today, from the judicial figures using the death penalty for political ends to the thugs beating protestors on the streets, are at the heart of the regime’s brutal repression of the Iranian people.

The UK and our partners have sent a clear message through these sanctions that there will be no hiding place for those guilty of the worst human rights violations.

The UK has now imposed 50 new sanctions in response to human rights violations by the Iranian regime since Mahsa Amini’s death and will continue to take a wide range of actions to hold the regime to account.

These sanctions impose an asset freeze and UK travel ban on the individuals sanctioned and send a wider signal on the UK’s commitment to backing condemnation with action.

Further information

The full list of those sanctioned today is:

Entities:

• Basij Resistance Force
• The Basij Co-operative Foundation

Individuals:

• Ahmad Fazelian, Deputy Prosecutor General
• Kiyumars Heidari, Commander in Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ground Forces
• Salar Abnoush, Deputy Commander of the Basij
• Qasem Rezaei, Deputy Commander of the Law Enforcement Force (LEF)
• Hossein Nejat, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Sarallah HQ