U.S. imposes new sanctions on Iran as death toll tops 2,600

The Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned two dozen Iranian officials and entities as the regime continued its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The officials include a group of five high-ranking officials who oversee security forces that are violently repressing protesters: Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, and four commanders with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose forces have reportedly attacked civilians and wounded protesters at hospitals.

The deadly protests in Iran began in late December and were initially sparked by an economic crisis. They have since broadened to focus on opposition to the authoritarian government, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has condemned the protests. More than 2,600 people have been killed and more than 18,400 have been arrested, according to the latest figures from Human Rights Activists in Iran, a nongovernmental human rights advocacy group.

MS NOW has not independently verified those figures and the U.S. has not provided an official estimate of casualties.

President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that the killing in Iran had “stopped,” but the regime still plans to execute a 26-year-old protester, a human rights organization confirmed to MS NOW the same day, though the killing has reportedly been postponed. A Canadian official said Thursday morning on X that a Canadian citizen “died in Iran at the hands of the Iranian authorities.”

The Treasury Department is also imposing sanctions on 18 Iranian officials and entities that the department alleges are part of “shadow banking networks that allow Iran’s elite to steal and launder revenue generated by the country’s natural resources.” These include alleged shipping, trading and energy companies — which the department alleges are front groups intended to send and receive Iranian funds outside the country — and officials who run these companies and serve on their boards.

In a video posted to X announcing the sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the regime uses those individuals and entities to “evade sanctions on Iranian oil and divert proceeds on its energy sales away from its rightful owners, the Iranian people.”

“Tehran’s natural resources belong to its people and not its brutal dictators,” Bessent added.

The sanctions mean that the affected individuals and entities cannot do any business with the U.S., and Americans cannot do any business with the sanctioned entities. Violating the sanctions could lead to civil or criminal penalties — both for the designated Iranians or any Americans who do business with them.

Addressing Iranian leaders, Bessent said in the video: “U.S. Treasury knows that, like rats in a sinking ship, you are frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, we will track them and you.”

In addition, the department is imposing sanctions on Fardis Prison, which State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott described as “an institution where women have endured cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.”

The latest sanctions follow Trump’s Monday announcement that the U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on any countries doing business with Iran. In his Truth Social post announcing the news, Trump called it “final and conclusive,” though details remain unclear, including whether the 25% tariffs will be on top of the other tariffs Trump has already imposed on individual countries.

The president told reporters Sunday night that he was considering military action against Iran, leading the Iranian foreign minister to reply the country is ready for war but still open to negotiations. On Tuesday, the State Department advised U.S. citizens to evacuate Iran immediately.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the U.S. was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East after Iran threatened to retaliate against those targets if the U.S. struck first.

Julia Jester contributed reporting.