US Treasury sanctions 4 Iranians for targeting US citizen, Iranians abroad

 WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday designated four Iranian intelligence operatives who targeted a US citizen in the United States and Iranian dissidents in other countries.

A Treasury statement said the individuals were working as part of a wide-ranging campaign to silence critics of the Iranian government.

Senior intelligence official Alireza Shahvaroghi Farahani led a network that plotted the kidnapping of a US journalist and human rights activist, a failed plot that led to the indictment of members of the network in late July.

“Consistent with the well-documented role of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in domestic repression, this operation demonstrates the pernicious role of Iran’s intelligence apparatus in targeting Iranians abroad, to include brazen attempts to return dissidents to Iran,” the statement said.

“The Iranian government’s kidnapping plot is another example of its continued attempt to silence critical voices, wherever they may be,” Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Andrea M. Gacki said. “Targeting dissidents abroad demonstrates that the government’s repression extends far beyond Iran’s borders.”

The Treasury statement added that their actions “threatened the rules-based international order and undermine collective peace and security.”