Trump targets Iran with new sanctions
The Trump administration on Wednesday levied new financial sanctions against a selection of Iranian organizations, officials, and individuals accused of censorship and human rights abuses against the Iranian public.
Iran "routinely violates the rights of its own people," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "The Iranian regime diverts national resources that should belong to the people to fund a massive and expensive censorship apparatus and suppress free speech." The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will administer the sanctions.
Among the entities targeted is Ansar-e Hizballah, a quasi-official paramilitary organization, as well as Evin Prison, a tech firm called Hanista Programing Group, and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), a state-run media outlet. Ansar-e Hizballah "has been involved in the violent suppression of Iranian citizens and has collaborated with the Basij [militias] to violently attack Iranian students with knives, tear gas, and electric batons," the Treasury statement says, while inmates at Evin are subjected to torture. Hanista created messaging apps that facilitated state surveillance of protesters, the sanctions announcement says, and IRIB engaged in censorship and propaganda.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
The six-seven meme that has taken over the worldIn the Spotlight With roots in rap and basketball, the phrase has young people obsessed, and it could be here to stay
-
Five takeaways from Plaid Cymru’s historic Caerphilly by-election winThe Explainer The ‘big beasts’ were ‘humbled’ but there was disappointment for second-placed Reform too
-
A journey through Trinidad’s wild heartThe Week Recommends Experience the island’s natural wonders, from watching baby turtles hatch to visiting an ancient bat cave
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
