US Sanctions Iranian Morality Police After Woman’s Death

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police and leaders of other government agencies after the death of a woman who’d been detained over an accusation she violated the country’s dress code by wearing her Islamic headgear too loosely.

The sanctions come after at least nine protesters have been killed in clashes with Iranian security forces since protests erupted over the weekend because of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s death.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated the leaders of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Army’s Ground Forces, the Basij Resistance Forces, and other law enforcement agencies for the sanctions, which deny them access of their properties and bank accounts held in the United States.

“These officials oversee organizations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women’s rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha’i community,” the Treasury said in a news release.

The morality police detained Amini last week, saying she didn’t properly cover her hair with the Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab, which is mandatory for Iranian women. Amini collapsed at a police station and died three days later.

Exile Iranians of the National Council of Resistance of Iran gather in front of the embassy of Iran in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 20, 2022, after the death of Mahsa Amini. (Michael Sohn/AP Photo)

Police say that she died of a heart attack and deny that she was mistreated. The government released video footage purporting to show the moment she collapsed. Her family says she had no history of heart trouble, and her death in police custody has triggered daring displays of defiance from protesters, in the face of beatings and possible arrest.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States calls

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