By Pishtaz | 2024-09-26

The United States has designated four senior Iranian officials for their involvement in targeting Iranian dissidents abroad, as part of a package of sanctions connected to human rights abuses.

The sanctions were announced September 18, near the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's so-called "morality police."

They come as part of wider sanctions targeting 12 individuals in connection with the Iranian regime's ongoing violent repression of the Iranian people, both within Iran's borders and abroad, the US Treasury said.

They were taken in coordination with Canada and Australia, which also announced new sanctions against those connected to human rights abuses in Iran.

Since Amini's death, "and despite the Iranian people's peaceful calls for reform, Iran's leaders have doubled down on the regime's well-worn tactics of violence and coercion," said Treasury official Bradley Smith.

'External plotting'

Four senior officials have been blacklisted for "external plotting."

Among them is Yahya Hosseini Panjaki, who is linked to multiple plots sponsored by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and carried out in coordination with narcotics traffickers and terrorist groups, including Hizbullah.

These include the attempted bombing of a gathering of Iranian dissidents in Paris, among other operations in Europe, the Treasury said.

Panjaki serves as the MOIS deputy intelligence minister for internal security affairs, where he oversees the Iranian regime’s efforts to assassinate Iranian dissidents abroad.

Javad Ghaffarhaddadi, also known as Javad Ghaffari, serves as the head of the special operations division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO).

The IRGC-IO has played a key role in targeting critics of the Iranian regime abroad, including the 2019 kidnapping of France-based journalist and political refugee Ruhollah Zam, which ultimately led to his execution in Iran.

The IRGC-IO has played a similar role on the domestic front, detaining and interrogating Iranians who have taken part in protests against the regime.

Hamid Zareikajosangi, also known as Hamid Zeraati or Hamid Zerai, is a field operative with Unit 840 of the IRGC Quds Force (IRGC-QF).

The covert operational unit, which is active in Syria, has been responsible, among other things, for planning and mounting terror activity outside Iran against Western targets and the Iranian opposition.

Zareikajosangi has been involved in recruiting for the IRGC-QF since at least 2021, including recruitment of a known cyber activist and recruiting Unit 840 assets outside of Iran, the Treasury said.

Also designated is IRGC affiliate Mahmud Baghlani.