The European Union on Monday (May 22nd) strengthened its sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, due to the repression of demonstrations triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini.
EU foreign ministers blacklisted the IRCG Cooperative Foundation, the investment body within the Revolutionary Guards. The sanction freezes the foundation's assets in the EU and prohibits it from funding.
Eighth Sanctions Slave
The EU has also sanctioned the Student Basij Organisation (SBO), a branch of the Basij organisation, which has been accused of carrying out a violent crackdown on university campuses. Three soldiers and a magistrate, the prosecutor of Sirjan Moshen Nikvarz, considered responsible for several arrests of lawyers and death sentences, have also been banned in the EU.
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This is the eighth salvo of targeted sanctions against Iran decided by the 27 since the death on 16 September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, who died after being arrested by the morality police for violating the dress code. The European restrictive measures now apply to 217 persons and 37 entities in Iran.
Created in 1979 after the victory of the revolution against the power of the Shah, the Guards ("Sepah-e Pasdaran" in Persian) have land, naval and air forces with estimated numbers of more than 120,000 men. The Guards oversee the Basij (Islamist Volunteer Corps), which was deployed to respond to protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
