On Tuesday, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, made an announcement that two IRGC officials were blacklisted for their involvement in human rights violations. According to a statement, IRGC interrogators Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari came under sanction because of getting involved in human rights violations, including torture and/or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (CIDTP) against political prisoners who were detained during protests in 2019 and 2020 in Iran. By this designation, these people and their family members are prohibited from entry into the US.
The US is committed to implementing all necessary tools to fight against human rights violations and to call those responsible for those violations to account, the statement added. Also, it is stated that the US will continue to work with allies to enhance accountability in this issue. Speaking upon the question regarding this issue at the weekly briefing, State Department spokesperson Ned Price also made statements in favor of this latest move. He defined the move as coherent with US values.
Since the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement in 2018 and the assassination of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani by the US drone attack, US-Iran relations have been tense.
