ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s oil trade and a prison where alleged human rights violations take place. “The Department of State is today imposing sanctions on four entities that have transported Iranian oil and identifying six vessels as their blocked property,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. In addition, 12 people were sanctioned “for their role supporting smuggling and arms trafficking, money laundering, and shipment of illicit Iranian petroleum for the benefit of Ansarallah, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist commonly known as the Houthis,” the statement added. The State Department said it would continue to impose sanctions to hold Iran accountable as long as it targets the US and its allies. The US also sanctioned Iran's Ghezel Hesar Prison, which it called a “site of gross violations of human rights, namely cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment of individuals in Iran who sought to exercise their right to freedom of expression.” Ghezel Hesar Prison, located in Karaj northwest of Tehran, is one of the sites authorities torture and execute prisoners. On Wednesday, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on four entities and individuals accused of supporting Iran’s missile and drone programs, providing components that are used “for sensitive navigational systems” for the military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force.
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