The Council of the European Union sanctioned the Zindashti Network and eight individuals for “committing serious human-rights violations and abuses” on behalf of Iran, the council announced on Tuesday.
The violations include “extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions and killings, as well as enforced disappearances of persons deemed to be opponents or critical of the actions or policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The Zindashti Network, a criminal group connected to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, has carried out “assassinations of Iranian dissidents and persons critical of the actions or policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the European Council stated.
The council also sanctioned the network’s leader, Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti—an Iranian narcotics trafficker and organised crime boss—and some of his associates. A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a government official who oversees the network’s operations were also listed in the sanctions report.
The sanctioned individuals and network are now subject to an asset freeze, and any financial support or economic resources provided to them are prohibited. Additionally, a travel ban to the European Union has been imposed on the individuals named.
