By: Annie Priya
November 20 2020
On Nov 18, 2020 the United States blacklisted a foundation controlled by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for alleged human rights abuses.
On Nov 18, 2020 the United States blacklisted a foundation controlled by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for alleged human rights abuses.In continuation of President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign, the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran on Nov 18, 2020. A foundation controlled by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been blacklisted over alleged human rights violations. In a statement on its website, the Treasury Department described the Islamic Revolution Mostazafan Foundation as “an immense conglomerate” with 160 holdings in key sectors of Iran’s economy covering finance, energy, construction, and mining. “While (it) is ostensibly a charitable organization charged with providing benefits to the poor and oppressed, its holdings are expropriated from the Iranian people and are used by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to enrich his office, reward his political allies, and persecute the regime’s enemies,” the Treasury statement said. In Oct this year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 18 "major" Iranian banks reasoning that the US was seeking to pull the plug on Iran's access to funds for what perceives as aggressive activities, the BBC reported. The order would also penalise non-Iranian institutions trading with them.