Iran

1961-07-11

Tehran, Iran

Mohammad Kazemi became the commander of the IRGC-IO in June 2022. Kazemi oversees the IRGC-IO’s operations suppressing civil society in Iran and arresting Iranian dissidents, including dual nationals. He has also overseen the regime’s brutal crackdown against protests across the country in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini. Kazemi was previously designated by OFAC on October 26, 2022, for having acted for or on behalf of the IRGC. Ruhollah Bazghandi, Mohammad Kazemi, Mohammad Mehdi Sayyari, and Mohammad Hasan Mohagheghi are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14078 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC-IO, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14078.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1444

2022-10-26

US

Executive Order 14078 of July 19, 2022 Bolstering Efforts To Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Nationals Home

OFAC-horizontal

Iran, Russia

Blocking Property, Suspending Entry

The new EO builds on those efforts and the efforts of others who have worked diligently to bring the Levinson Act to fruition, and it expands and strengthens the government’s toolkit in key ways. For example, this EO reinforces U.S. government efforts to support the families of Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage overseas by directing parts of the federal government to bolster their engagement with such families and their sharing of relevant information, including intelligence information, with families regarding their loved ones’ status and the government’s efforts to secure their release or their return. The new executive order also authorizes departments and agencies to impose costs and consequences on those who are involved. That includes financial sanctions and it includes visa bans, and it can apply whether the individual subject to those costs and consequences has acted on behalf of a state or a terrorist network or some other non-state actor. This EO reflects the administration’s commitment not just to the issues generally, but to the families in particular, and it has been informed by the government’s regular engagements with them and other stakeholders who have and continue to undertake important, constructive advocacy efforts on behalf of their loved ones.

SDN