US issues first sanctions on Iran under Biden administration

Measures are against two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps interrogators accused of torturing prisoners

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, March 3, 2021. AFP

The Biden administration on Tuesday issued its first sanctions against Iran amid its continued efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced sanctions on two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps interrogators, Ali Hemmatian and Masoud Safdari.

They are penalised for “their involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the torture and/or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of political prisoners and persons detained during protests in 2019 and 2020 in Iran", Mr Blinken said.

The sanctions bar Mr Hemmatian and Mr Safdari from entering the US.

Mr Blinken said the US turned to the Human Rights Council in Geneva to outline its “concerns about the abuses the Iranian government continues to perpetrate against its citizens, including the unjust detention of far too many in deplorable conditions".

“The United States will continue to support the rights of people in Iran and demand the Iranian government treat its people with respect and dignity,” he said.

While the designations are much more focused than the broad sanctions the administration of former US president Donald Trump imposed on Tehran, they come as President Joe Biden seeks to re-enter the nuclear deal signed by Iran and world powers.

But Mr Biden said the US will lift the economic sanctions on Iran only if Tehran returns to compliance with the 2015 accord, which it began to breach after Mr Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.

A group of 140 bipartisan members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Mr Blinken on Tuesday calling on the Biden administration as part of its nuclear diplomacy to address Tehran's ballistic missile programme, regional proxies and cyber attacks.

Mr Biden said he intends to pursue follow-up agreements with Iran on issues such as ballistic missiles and regional proxies after reviving the nuclear deal.

The US administration has yet to repeal any of Mr Trump's sanctions on Iran, but the new president reversed his predecessor's position at the UN on snapback sanctions embedded in the nuclear deal.

But those UN sanctions never went into effect.

The Trump administration failed to initiate the snapback last year after the Security Council said the US had no authority to bring them back because Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, Mr Blinken on Tuesday marked the 14th anniversary of the disappearance of Robert Levinson, a CIA contractor who was last seen on Iran’s Kish Island in 2007.

The US accuses Iran of abducting Mr Levinson and says he died in Iranian custody – charges Tehran denies.

“We call on the Iranian government to provide credible answers to what happened to Bob Levinson and to immediately and safely release all US citizens who are unjustly held captive in Iran,” Mr Blinken said.

“The abhorrent act of unjust detentions for political gains must cease immediately.”

The Trump administration in December imposed sanctions on Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, two senior officials in Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, accusing them of authorising Mr Levinson's abduction.