The United States imposed new sanctions on Iran

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The measures affect individuals and organizations accused of incurring in "abuses" against human rights

The United States Government announced Friday new sanctions against 14 individuals and entities of Iran, including the head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, for "serious" human rights abuses and support for the ballistic missile program.

"We are sanctioning the regime of Iran, including the head of the Judiciary, for its overwhelming mistreatment of its citizens, including those imprisoned for the sole exercise of their right to peaceful assembly, and for censoring their own people who rise up in protest against his government, "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Mnuchin remarked that "the US will not stand still while the Iranian regime continues to be involved in human rights abuses and injustices."

In addition to Lajirani, brother of the president of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, Gholamreza Ziaei, director of Rajaee Shahr prison, and several government cybersecurity councils in Iran have also been sanctioned.

Several Chinese companies and the Malaysian Green Wave Telecommunications are also being penalized for providing technical supplies to the Tehran missile program.

"Politically, this hits the top of the regime, and sends a strong message that the United States will not tolerate continued violations of the rights of Iranian citizens," said a senior US official, who requested anonymity.

As a result, assets that these persons and institutions may have under US jurisdiction remain frozen and transactions with them both to financial entities and to US citizens are prohibited.

At the same time that the Treasury made this announcement, the president, Donald Trump, decided to renew the relief of sanctions granted to Iran based on the nuclear agreement of 2015, reached along with five other great powers (China, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia) but he claimed that his European allies negotiate with him a supplementary pact.