Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that the Islamic Republic will “soon” impose sanctions on American and Canadian individuals and institutions for their support of terrorism and inciting violence against the Iranian nation in the recent riots.
Nasser Kan’ani made the remark on Friday as he fielded questions on Iran’s intended response to the US and Canadian government’s latest move to sanction a number of Iranian individuals and various bodies over what they claimed was the human rights violations and repression of recent protests in the country.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the enactments passed by the relevant authorities and within the framework of related rules and sanction mechanisms, and as a countermeasure, will soon place under sanctions American and Canadian individuals and institutions for their deliberate actions in supporting terrorism and terrorist groups, promoting and inciting terrorism, violence and hate-mongering which have led to riots, violence, terrorist acts and human rights violations against the Iranian people,” Kan’ani told reporters.
In a fresh round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, the Canadian government on October 13 targeted 17 Iranian individuals, including former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and ex-defense chief Brigadier General Amir Hatami as well as three entities.
Ottawa had earlier imposed sanctions on a wide range of Iranian institutions and persons, including the 24-hour English-language Press TV, under the similar pretext of “rights violations.”
The US administration and its European allies have over the past weeks introduced restrictive measures against a number of Iranian individuals and entities over what they claim a heavy-handed crackdown on violent protesters across the country after the death of an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent in police custody in the capital, Tehran.
Last week, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said the United States and the United Kingdom were “directly” involved in the recent riots, adding that dozens of terrorists affiliated with the Zionist regime and anti-revolution groups have also been detained in the unrest.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) issued the statement on Friday, pointing to the major role of foreign intelligence agencies, especially the CIA, in orchestrating the violent riots in Iran in the past weeks.
“The CIA played the main role” while closely cooperating with the spy services of the UK, the Israeli regime, and Saudi Arabia, according to the statement.
Riots broke out in Iran last month after a young Iranian woman, identified as Mahsa Amini died. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization said that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
The rioters have been going on a rampage across the country, attacking security officers, resorting to vandalism against public property, and desecrating religious sanctities.
Late last month, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced that the rioters have been backed by Western regimes and their mercenary media, which disseminated misinformation and distorted the sequence of events that led to Amini’s death even before the official investigation into the incident concludes.
