AFP: Tehran hit out Friday against US “interference” after Washington ordered sanctions against senior Iranian officials for alleged human rights abuses during a crackdown on post-election protests last year.
TEHRAN (AFP) — Tehran hit out Friday against US “interference” after Washington ordered sanctions against senior Iranian officials for alleged human rights abuses during a crackdown on post-election protests last year.
“This decision is in line with the US interference in the internal affairs of Iran for the past 30 years,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
“It goes against international law,” he added.
US President Barack Obama imposed the sanctions against eight senior Iranian officials on Wednesday over the crackdown against anti-government protesters who rejected the outcome of the Islamic republic’s 2009 presidential election.
The order will freeze any US assets held by the eight, who include Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari and former Tehran prosecutor general Said Mortazevi.
On Thursday, Iran summoned Livia Leu Agosti, the ambassador of Switzerland which manages US interests in Tehran, to protest against the move which it called “illegal.”
After the 2009 presidential election, hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters defied a government ban and poured onto the streets of Tehran to protest against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Human rights groups have accused the government of suppressing the uprising through extra-judicial killings, rapes and torture.
