Tehran, July 3 (FN Agency) Tehran on Wednesday imposed sanctions against 11 US police officials over alleged violations of human rights by “suppressing” peaceful protests by university students and professors in the United States, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran in accordance with the Law on ‘Countering the Violation of Human Rights and Adventurous and Terrorist Activities of the United States in the Region’, (2017) in particular Article 5 of the Law, designates the following American individuals for their involvement in violation of human rights by suppressing peaceful protest of university students and professors in the United States who were supporting the oppressed Palestinian nation against the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza,” the ministry said in a statement. The sanctioned individuals are high-ranking police and university police officers from various US states, such as Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona and the District of Columbia.
The Law on Countering the Violation of Human Rights and Adventurous and Terrorist Activities of the United States in the Region was ratified in 2017 by the Iranian parliament. The sanctions under the law include asset freezes, blocking of accounts in the Iranian banking system and a ban on the issuance of an Iranian visa or entering the country’s territory. Numerous pro-Palestinian demonstrations have rocked college campuses across the US in recent months as protesters demand an end to US military, financial and diplomatic support for Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 37,900 Palestinians. Students are also calling on their universities to condemn Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, to divest from companies linked to Israel and discontinue programs of study abroad at Israeli universities.