Iran reacts to US sanctioning Sohrab Soleimani

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 14
By Emil Ilgar – Trend:

Iran says the US is not in a position to blacklist a top Iranian official and organization due to Washington’s "bad reputation" regarding internal and external human rights issues.

Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Apr.14 that “baseless accusation against a foreign judiciary official is abuse of international laws,” IRNA reported.

The United States on Apr.13 sanctioned Sohrab Soleimani, the brother of the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, for his involvement in the cases of abuse in Iranian prisons.

Soleimani is the "supervisor of the office of the deputy for security and law enforcement of the state prisons organization," the U.S. Treasury Department said.

He is also the former director general of the Tehran Prisons Organization, which was also sanctioned on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Soleimani's brother Qasem Soleimani leads Iran's Quds Force, the elite special forces arm of the Revolutionary Guards. Qasem Soleimani had previously been sanctioned, the White House said.

"The sanctions against human rights abusers in Iran's prisons come at a time when Iran continues to unjustly detain ... various foreigners, including the U.S. citizens," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a press briefing.

The EU also earlier on April 11 announced that it had prolonged until April 13, 2018 its travel ban and asset freeze on 82 Iranian individuals and one entity as well as a ban on the bloc’s exports of certain
equipment to Iran.

Qasemi has criticized the recent EU decision on extending sanctions against Tehran over “human rights violations”.

“The EU has turned a blind eye on the reality of citizen rights in Iran,” IRNA quoted Qasemi as saying Apr. 12.