The US imposes sanctions on Iran’s interior minister and a businessman for a brutal crackdown and laundering money for Tehran via digital assets.
WASHINGTON: The United States imposed sanctions on Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and a businessman on Friday.
The Treasury Department said Momeni oversaw a brutal security crackdown this month responsible for thousands of protester deaths.
It also targeted investor Babak Zanjani and two British-registered digital asset exchanges for processing funds for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Five other Iranian security officials involved in violently repressing the people were also sanctioned.
READ MORE: EU to sanction Iran Revolutionary Guard members over crackdown
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US would continue targeting Iranian elites exploiting digital assets to evade sanctions.
“Like rats on a sinking ship, the regime is frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world,” Bessent stated.
President Donald Trump has recently threatened intervention over Iran’s suppression of protests.
The administration has sent warships to the Middle East despite Trump saying he plans to talk with Tehran. – Reuters
