Intel: US sanctions Iran’s interior minister over deadly protests

The United States slapped fresh sanctions and visa restrictions on 12 Iranian officials and entities, most accused of serious human rights abuses, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday. 

Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli is among those sanctioned over the government’s crackdown on peaceful protests that erupted across the country last year.  

"We have reason to believe Minister Rahmani Fazli gave carte blanche orders authorizing Iranian police forces to use lethal force on peaceful protestors and bystanders," Pompeo said in a statement. "His — and the regime’s — goal was to quash these peaceful protests and suppress the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression at any cost."

A sudden increase in gasoline prices prompted widespread anti-government demonstrations in November that reportedly left hundreds dead. Amnesty International documented the deaths of at least 23 children killed at the hands of Iranian security forces, most shot dead when police fired live ammunition into the crowds.