The State Department announced on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio took measures this week to revoke travel privileges for senior Iranian officials and their families in response to Iran’s aggressive suppression of protesters this month.
State Department representatives stated, “Those who have benefitted from the Iranian regime’s brutal oppression are not welcome in our immigration system.”
“This is a significant move. Kudos to President Trump and Secretary Rubio. We’ve been anticipating this for a while,” remarked Jason Brodsky, policy director for the United Union Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), mentioning that his organization had long supported such action.
Mike Walz, Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, expressed his approval, saying, “Families of the Iranian regime’s elite are living luxuriously in the U.S. while their own populace is being killed. That needs to stop!”
Interestingly, the conversation sparked controversy earlier this year when Iranian-American activists began a petition urging the U.S. to expel relatives of senior Iranian officials.
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The petition called out two specific individuals: Eissa Hashemi, the son of Islamic Revolution spokesperson Masoumeh Ebtekar, and Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, whose father Ali Larijani serves as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Larijani has openly supported severe repression against civilians during uprisings.
Until now, Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani was an assistant professor at the renowned Winship Cancer Institute in Georgia, but she is now reportedly “no longer an employee.”
On Friday, the State Department announced sanctions targeting six Iranian officials in leadership roles over the violent crackdown on protesters, as well as Iranian investors who have embezzled substantial amounts from their countrymen.
“While Iranians protest decades of terrible economic management, the regime prioritizes funding for foreign terrorist groups and extensive weapons programs over the basic needs of its people,” said State Department spokesman Thomas Piggott.
“The Iranian populace is facing rising inflation, deteriorating infrastructure, and shortages of essential services as the government misuses national resources for malevolent purposes.”
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The State Department also made a request for Iran to revoke the death sentence for 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi, reminding the country of its responsibilities to those who participated in the recent protests.
“The Iranian regime is slaughtering its youth and jeopardizing the country’s future. We urge them to halt the execution of Saleh Mohammadi and any others sentenced to death for asserting their fundamental rights,” stated the department.
In a related note, the European Union further exacerbated tensions with Iran by designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, echoing earlier actions taken by the Trump administration.
“The European Union’s irrational, irresponsible, and harmful actions align perfectly with the hegemonic and anti-human policies of the United States and the Zionist regime,” declared Iran’s military chief of staff in a statement on Thursday.
