Iran has dismissed US sanctions on several of its officials, saying they were a sign of the complete inefficiency of Washington’s previous sanctions on the country.
“Washington’s fruitless and repetitive sanctions against Iranian officials is a sign of weakness, despair and confusion of the US administration,” state TV quoted Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the United States imposed sanctions on several Iranian authorities, including its interior minister, accusing them of engaging in serious cases of human rights abuse.
The US Treasury Department said Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli gave orders authorising the Law Enforcement Force (LEF) of Iran to use lethal force in response to anti-government protests in November, leading to the killing of protesters, including at least 23 minors.
Hundreds of young and working-class Iranians took to the streets on November 15 to protest against the government’s decision to increase fuel prices.
The protests turned political, with demonstrators burning pictures of senior officials and calling on clerical rulers to step down. Iran’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, denounced the unrest as a “very dangerous conspiracy” by Iran’s enemies.
Both accounts have been dismissed by Iran, which has yet to give a death toll. Its judiciary has sentenced dozens of protesters to long prison terms.
