BBC News
The treasury department said they would face a travel ban and asset freeze.
They include the head of the Revolutionary Guards, a former interior minister and the prosecutor-general.
The alleged abuses include the killings and beatings of anti-government protesters after the disputed presidential election in June 2009.
“As the president noted in his recent address to the United Nations General Assembly, human rights are a matter of moral and pragmatic necessity for the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
“The United States will always stand with those in Iran who aspire to have their voices heard. We will be a voice for those aspirations that are universal, and we continue to call upon the Iranian government to respect the rights of its people.”
The individuals targeted by the sanctions are:
- Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC)
- Sadeq Mahsouli, the current minister of welfare and security, and former minister of the interior
- Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, the current prosecutor-general of Iran and former intelligence minister
- Saeed Mortazavi, the former prosecutor-general of Tehran
- Heydar Moslehi, the minister of Intelligence
- Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, the current interior minister and former deputy commander of the armed forces for law enforcement
- Ahmad-Reza Radan, deputy chief of Iran’s National Police
- Hossein Taeb, current deputy commander for Intelligence for the IRGC and former commander of the IRGC’s Basij militia
The White House statement added: “This order provides the United States with new tools to target human rights abuses engaged in by officials of the government of Iran.”
