Australia sanctioned seven Iranian individuals and four entities on Tuesday over what it called the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on protesters and women and its destabilizing activity through missile and shadow-banking networks.
The Australian foreign ministry said the measures targeted senior officials and entities involved in violence against women and children, mass arrests, torture, forced confessions, internet restrictions and the wrongful detention of foreign nationals.
It said the sanctions were also aimed at parts of Iran’s shadow banking system, which it said helps fund groups such as Hamas, support Tehran’s ballistic missile program and enable other destabilizing activity.
Among those sanctioned was Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni Kalagari, who Australia said is also deputy commander-in-chief of the Law Enforcement Forces, one of the entities listed over its role in the crackdown.
Australia also sanctioned Ruhollah Momen Nasab, saying he was responsible for deploying 80,000 forces to surveil women and girls in schools, universities, public spaces and online and enforce mandatory hijab rules.
Another listed individual was accused of establishing neighborhood intelligence databases through door-to-door data collection and patrols to identify and punish opponents of the Islamic Republic, while others were sanctioned over the wrongful detention of foreign nationals, the government said.
The sanctioned individuals were Momeni, Momen Nasab, Majid Feiz Jafari, Ghorban Mohammad Valizadeh, Mohsen Ebrahimi, Nasser Zarringhalam and Mansour Zarringhalam.
The listed entities were the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Seraj Cyberspace Organization, an IRGC-established cyber outfit accused of recruiting and mobilizing pro-Islamic Republic internet users to spread disinformation and attack opponents online; and the exchange firms Berelian Exchange and GCM Exchange.
“Australia continues to stand with the brave people of Iran against a brutal, oppressive regime,” the government said.
The announcement was made alongside new UK sanctions targeting 12 individuals and entities linked to Iran over what Britain called hostile activity, including plotting attacks and providing financial services to groups seeking to destabilize the United Kingdom.
The United States also imposed sanctions on Monday on three individuals and nine companies accused of helping Iran ship oil to China, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would expand its Iran sanctions to include those responsible for obstructing freedom of navigation.
Australia said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government has imposed more than 230 sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities, including more than 100 linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
