Thread by @HeshmatAlavi

THREAD

1)
“Today the Treasury Department is targeting the unelected officials who surround Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and implement his destabilizing policies,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ira…

2)
“These individuals are linked to a wide range of malign behaviours by the regime, including bombings of the US Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983 & the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994, as well as torture, extrajudicial killings, and repression of civilians.”

3)
“Our action is specifically focussed on further targeting the financial assets of the supreme leader’s inner circle of both military and foreign affair advisors,” a senior administration official said.
home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel…

4)
U.S. sanctions block any U.S.-controlled property or interests held by those targeted, and prohibit anyone or any entities in the United States from dealing with those sanctioned.

5)
OFAC designated Ebrahim Raisi, the head of Iran’s Judiciary, who was appointed by the Supreme Leader in March 2019.
Iran’s Judiciary sanctioned the execution of 7 child offenders last year & 2 so far in 2019, despite prohibitions against the death penalty for anyone under 18.

6)
Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader’s second son, worked closely with the commander of the IRGC Qods Force & the Basij paramilitary force to advance his father’s destabilizing regional ambitions & oppressive domestic objectives.

7)
Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, the Supreme Leader’s Chief of Staff, directed the regime’s systematic blocking of social and economic progress of the Baha’i community, a religious minority group in Iran.

8)
Vahid Haghanian, referred to as Khamenei’s right hand. A former military commander, Vahid Haghanian is acting as an executive deputy for the Supreme Leader and usually accompanies the Supreme Leader on social engagements.

9)
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Khamenei who has helped Iran extend credit lines to the brutal Assad regime. Velayati has been charged in Argentina for homicide in connection with the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85.

10)
Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS), the most senior military body in Iran, which implements policy and monitors and coordinates activities within the armed forces, including the IRGC.

11)
Mohammad Bagheri is designated pursuant to E.O. 13876 for being a person appointed to a position as a state official of Iran by Khamenei. AFGS is designated for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of Khamenei.

12)
Hossein Dehghan was appointed by Khamenei as his military aide for the Defense Industries & Armed Forces Logistics. Dehghan was the commander of IRGC forces in Lebanon & Syria in 1983 when the bombing of a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon, killed 241 US service members.

13)
Gholam Ali Rashid, an IRGC commander, who was appointed by Khamenei as head of the Khatam al-Anbia Central HQ, the most important military headquarters in Iran. Khatam al-Anbia Central HQ’s main function is to coordinate the operations of the Iran’s armed forces.

14)
Sanctions implications:

15)
#MaximumPressure is tightening the noose around the neck of Iran’s & denying this regime the money it previously used to fund terrorism, domestic crackdown, advancing ballistic missiles & its secret nuclear weapons program.

My take:
Good. More needed.