US sanctions over 40 people, entities over 'human rights abuses'

• 

The United States is imposing sanctions on more than 40 people and entities from nine countries, including Russia, Iran, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for having alleged connections to corruption and human rights abuses, the US Treasury Department announced Friday.

"Today the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in recognition of International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day, is sanctioning a diverse array of over 40 individuals and entities that are connected to corruption or human rights abuse across nine countries," the statement read.

The OFAC is apparently sanctioning four Russian individuals for their involvement in the Ukraine war, in addition to members of the Russian central Election Commission for their role in monitoring the accession referenda held in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaparozhye, and Kherson.  

Read next: DPR, LPR, Kherson, Zaparozhye people part of Russia forever: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized that the former Ukrainian regions have now become Russian territories after their peoples overwhelmingly voted in favor of their territories becoming part of Russia.

These are not the first sanctions imposed in this regard, as the United States imposed sanctions related to this issue the very same day that the election results came out. 

The United States imposed new sanctions on 285 Russia-linked individuals and 11 Russia-linked organizations following the accession of liberated Ukrainian territories into Russia.

The sanctioned individuals are members of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's Federal Assembly, as well as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his family, the wife and son of Russian Security Council Deputy Chief and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and family members of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, among many others.

Additionally, the US is sanctioning the upper house of the Russian Federal Assembly, the Federation Council, as part of Washington's newest onslaught of sanctions on Russia over the accession of former Ukrainian territories.

The US Department of Commerce also announced that same day that it was adding 57 Russian-based entities to its economic blacklist in its latest tranche of sanctions on Moscow over the referenda. 

Friday's sanctions also saw the OFAC sanctioning the DPRK's border security bureau and individuals connected to a government-run animation studio, as well as Iranian law enforcement officials for alleged human rights abuses.

According to a high-ranking EU official, the bloc's foreign ministers will impose a new set of sanctions against Iran on November 14 in "support of the protesters" in the country.

EU foreign ministers imposed asset freezes and travel bans linked to riots in Iran on Iran's morality police, four Iranian public institutions, and 11 Iranian individuals.

Among the main supporters of the sanctions were France and Germany, which believe that Iran's claimed supply of drones to Russia must be seen as a violation of the UN Security Council resolution.

Iran responded by stating that the EU miscalculated by resorting to sanctions, calling it an "obsolete tool," and later announced the imposition of sanctions on 20 EU figures and entities. The sanctions include EU MPs, as well as German and French media outlets, entities, and figures on account of supporting terrorism, as per the ministry.

Iran has recently been the target of Western-fueled riots since the death of Mahsa Amini, whose demise was wrongfully blamed on the Iranian police.

The US sanctions also targeted individuals with alleged ties to corruption in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mali.

The list of "human rights abuses" also included individuals in Guinea, China, and the Philippines.

The Treasury explained that its actions were a key component of the Biden administration's efforts to implement its anti-corruption strategy released back in December 2021.

The statement also claimed that the United States was committed to taking actions consistent with its values and recognizes human rights as critical to global peace and security.