Biden administration imposes sanctions on Iran for first time

Eslam Mohamed

For the first time, US President Joe Biden’s administration has imposed sanctions on Iran in an effort to recall the approach of the previous administration of Donald Trump, in whose name it was associated with the “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against the mullah regime in Tehran.

The US State Department announced the inclusion of prominent Iranian officials on the sanctions list after their involvement in committing human rights violations, namely the Iranian Revolutionary Guard investigators Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari, adding that they were involved in grave violations such as torture and inhuman punishments for political prisoners and detainees during the protests that swept the country in 2019 and 2020.

The State Department stressed that Washington is committed to enhancing accountability for those responsible for human rights violations, and said that these individuals and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter the United States.

It added that it will continue to consider all appropriate tools to impose sanctions on those responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Iran.

The State Department added that it made clear its concerns to the Human Rights Council in Geneva regarding the violations that the Iranian government continues to commit against its citizens, including the unjust detention of a large number in poor conditions.

This step came a week after US congressmen from the Democratic and Republican parties called for holding the Iranian regime accountable for its violations of human rights and its support for terrorism and destruction during a virtual media briefing called by the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC), with the participation of 24 members of Congress. Republican Rep. Tom McClintock called on the Biden administration to engage in establishing an international investigation into the violations of the Iranian regime, stressing that Tehran has been bloodthirsty and responsible for massacres and crimes inside Iran and for terrorism and destruction outside it for more than four decades.

According to media reports, the number of complaints lodged against the Iranian regime in the United States alone amounted to more than 10,000. In some of them, rulings were issued requiring the payment of more than a $100 billion in compensation. The number of cases that American courts decided against the Iranian regime reached 520 cases in 2020 alone.

Most of those who filed the complaints are American citizens of Iranian origin, including those who had contracted with American companies and individuals but were damaged as a result of their work, and they hold the Iranian regime responsible for the damage they suffered.

Tehran does not recognize the competence of US courts to hear these complaints, so it refuses to pay any compensation, and the plaintiffs must obtain an order from the US Attorney General’s office to confiscate Iranian money or property.

Thus, $2 billion of Iranian money and property were finally confiscated, out of $100 billion in fines and compensation, according to judgments issued by American courts so far.