Police violence in Iran: USA impose new penalties

Status: 11/16/2022 6:26 p.m

The US has imposed new sanctions over the crackdown on protests in Iran. They aim at the state broadcaster IRIB. Meanwhile, government critics continue to take to the streets. Several people are said to have been killed.

The US has imposed sanctions on six senior employees and journalists at a state-run Iranian media company. Among other things, their assets are frozen.

IRIB is said to have broadcast hundreds of forced confessions from detainees. In addition, interviews appear to have been conducted and broadcast with people who were forced to claim that their relatives were not killed by the Iranian authorities during the recent protests, but by accidents or other causes.

“The United States remains committed to supporting the Iranian people as they continue their peaceful protests,” said Department Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.

Canada also imposed new sanctions on officials in Iran allegedly involved in the repression of protesters.

Apparently more fatalities in protests

Meanwhile, new protests are said to have broken out in most of Iran’s provinces. Human rights organizations assume three fatalities. Security forces are said to have shot protesters at close range, some with live ammunition. According to Iranian media, two members of the Revolutionary Guards and a Shiite cleric were killed.

In many cities, shops remained closed for the second day in a row as strikes broke out, despite police texts warning shopkeepers not to participate under any circumstances. The strike also continued in the big bazaar of Tehran. Sirens and loudspeaker announcements could be heard across the city. There is “Red Alert; the time of the revolution has begun”.

In Isfahan, workers at Iran’s largest steel mill are said to have joined the strike and protests for the first time. Images of barricaded streets, burning headscarves, Iranian flags and people dancing can be seen online.

Steelworkers in Isfahan chant slogans and leave the factory.

Image: AFP

For days there have been calls for protests in memory of the victims of the November 2019 protests. At that time, security forces bloodily crushed demonstrations against high petrol prices.

19 people face execution

Meanwhile, three other members of the protest movement have been sentenced to death. The verdict was guilty of “corruption on earth” and “war against God,” state media reported. Those convicted could appeal. So far, a total of 19 people are threatened with execution because of the protests.

According to the news agency HRANA, which is close to the activists, 344 people have been killed in the past few weeks, including 52 minors. Accordingly, 40 security forces were killed and 15,820 people were arrested.

The riots were triggered by the arrest of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for violating the headscarf requirements. She died in police custody.

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