WASHINGTON, (Reuters): The United States imposed sanctions on five Iranian officials it accused of being behind the crackdown on protests and warned it was tracking Iranian leaders’ funds being wired to banks around the world, as US President Donald Trump’s administration increases pressure on Tehran.
The US Treasury Department, in a statement, said it imposed sanctions on the Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security as well as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and law enforcement forces commanders, accusing them of being architects of the crackdown. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a video on Thursday, said Washington’s message to Iran’s leaders was clear: “US Treasury knows, that like rats on a sinking ship, you are frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, we will track them and you.””But there’s still time, if you choose to join us.
As President Trump has said, stop the violence and stand with the people of Iran.”The unrest in Iran started with protests over soaring prices before turning into one of the biggest challenges to the establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene on behalf of protesters in Iran, where the establishment has cracked down hard on nationwide unrest since December 28.”The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,” Bessent said in the statement. “Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights.”The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 18 people it accused of involvement in laundering the proceeds of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales to foreign markets as part of “shadow banking” networks of sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
Thursday’s action is the latest move targeting Tehran since Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero and help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Trump questions Pahlavi’s ability to lead Iran
Separately, Trump — in an exclusive Reuters interview in the Oval Office — said that Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over. “He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump said. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.”I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.
“Trump’s comments went further in questioning Pahlavi’s ability to lead Iran, after he said last week that he had no plans to meet with him. The US-based Pahlavi, 65, has lived outside Iran since before his father was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has become a prominent voice in the protests.
Echoing Trump’s caution, Sanam Vakil, deputy director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program, said Pahlavi had gained prominence among some protesters and had helped mobilise them to some extent. “But I wouldn’t overstate it. It’s very hard to see how much support he has or how much support any figure has in Iran,” she said. Trump said it is possible the government in Tehran could fall due to the protests but that in truth “any regime can fail.””Whether or not it falls or not, it’s going to be an interesting period of time,” he said.
