Iran imposes sanctions on 11 US officials over suppressing pro-Palestine student protests

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has imposed sanctions on nearly a dozen US authorities for their role in suppressing pro-Palestinian protests that erupted at university campuses across the United States in condemnation of Israel’s bloody onslaught against the Gaza Strip.

The ministry announced in a statement on Wednesday that the punitive measures were taken in accordance with the Law on “Countering the Violation of Human Rights and Adventurous and Terrorist Activities of the United States in the Region”, (2017) particularly Article 5, which blacklists the following American individuals for their involvement in violation of human rights by quashing the peaceful rallies.

The Americans targeted by the sanctions are as follows:

1.    William Billy Hitchens, Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety of Georgia,

2.    Eddie Grier, Commanding Officer over Field Operations of Georgia,

3.    Linda J. Stump-Kurnick, Chief of the University of Florida Police Department,

4.    Pamela A. Smith, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia,

5.    Jeffery Carroll, Executive Assistant Chief, Metropolitan Police Department,

6.    Karl Jacobson, Chief of New Haven Police Department,

7.    Shane Streepy, Assistant Chief of University of Texas Police Department (UTPD),

8.    Michael Cox, Commissioner of the Boston Police Department,

9.    Scott Dunning, The Indiana University Police Department Central Division Chief,

10.    Michael Thompson, The Arizona State University Police Chief,

11.    John Brockie, Chief of Police at CAL State Long Beach Police Department.

US campus protests show Zionists failed to manipulate public opinion in West

What these student protests on university campuses across the US underline is the fact that the attempts to manipulate public opinion have failed spectacularly.

The statement further noted that the above-mentioned individuals will be subject to sanctions, pursuant to Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Sixth Section of the Law.

Accordingly, their accounts and transactions will be blocked in the Iranian financial and banking systems, and their assets will be frozen within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran. No visa grating their entry to the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be issued as well.

“All relevant national organizations and institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take necessary measures for the effective implementation of the sanctions, in accordance with the regulations adopted by the related authorities,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry pointed out.

Pro-Palestine student protests initially broke out at the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in mid-April, with demonstrators calling for the end of the Gaza war and divestment with Israel.  

Despite harsh crackdowns, including mass suspensions, evictions from university housing, and arrests, protests sprung up across the US with footage emerging of students, professors, and journalists being violently detained by the police on campuses.

A new wave of demonstrations – marked by protesters setting up encampments on their campuses – also gripped the US while protests spread to other universities across the globe.

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