By Pishtaz | 2024-09-30

Two years after the death of Mahsa Amini, the United States and other nations continue to take aim at human rights abuses perpetuated by the Iranian regime, with a new round of sanctions rolled out September 18.

The September 16, 2022, death of the 22-year-old Iranian woman in "morality police" custody in Iran sparked a nationwide protest movement.

New US sanctions, issued in coordination with Canada and Australia, target 12 individuals in connection with the Iranian regime's ongoing, violent repression of the Iranian people, inside and outside Iran, the US Treasury said.

They target members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), officials of Iran's Prisons Organization, and those responsible for lethal operations overseas, which include assassinating opponents of the Iranian regime.

Two years after Amini's death, "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 US Treasury official Bradley Smith.

"The United States, along with our allies and partners, will continue to take action to expose and hold accountable those responsible for carrying out the Iranian regime's cruel agenda," he said.

'Daily fight for human rights'

In a joint statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom pledged to act in "lockstep" to hold the regime accountable for human rights violations.

"We stand with women and girls in Iran, and Iranian human rights defenders, across all segments of society in their ongoing daily fight for human rights and fundamental freedoms," the September 16 statement said.

At least 500 people died and over 20,000 were detained during the regime's brutal crackdown on protesters in 2022 and 2023. But the global "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement remains united, it said.

Per the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, many of the human rights violations perpetrated against protesters amount to crimes against humanity.

The Iranian regime has yet to address these allegations and has not cooperated with this internationally-recognized mandate, the State Department said.

Women and girls continue to face severe repression in Iran, with renewed enforcement of a law requiring them to wear headscarves spurring a fresh round of harassment and violence, it added.

The regime also has bolstered its surveillance infrastructure to arrest, detain, and in some cases torture women and girls for their peaceful activism.

According to human rights organizations, Iran is one of the foremost executioners of women globally, and there has been a recent surge in executions.