Rights Violation: US imposes visa restrictions on 13 top Iranian officials

The United States has imposed visa restrictions on 13 Iranians.

While disclosing this on Friday August 21, 2020, the US State Department stated that the restrictions followed the Iranians’ involvement in “gross violations of human rights” regarding a 1990 assassination of an Iranian opposition figure in Switzerland.

The State Department stated that the 13 assassins, who posed as Iranian diplomats, were acting under the highest orders of their government to silence opposition and show that no one is safe from the Iranian regime, no matter where they live.

“The United States will not stand for the Iranian regime silencing its critics through violence and terror,” it said.

However, the names of the Iranians were not disclosed.

The SD said it was also designating Hojatollah Khodaei Souri, who it said as director of Iran’s Evin Prison ran an institution “synonymous with torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

“Evin Prison has been used to oppress peaceful Iranian protestors and journalists, as well as foreigners who are swept up and imprisoned to be held hostage to squeeze concessions out of their home governments,” it continued.

“These actions send a message of support to Iran’s many victims worldwide that we will promote accountability for those who spread terror and violence,” it added.

“The United States will continue to pressure Iran to treat its own people with dignity and respect,” it vowed.

“Iran conducts assassinations and terrorism abroad to spread its reign of terror well beyond its own borders.

“The United States looks forward to the day when the perpetrators of Iran’s innumerable human rights violations will face true justice and hopes that these measures offer some comfort and reassurance to the families and friends of those lost to the Iranian regime’s violence and oppression at home and abroad,” the State Department said.