The Council of the European Union on Monday imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities over what it described as serious human rights violations.
The sanctions targeted officials and organisations allegedly linked to the suppression of protests earlier this year.
The sanctions come amid escalating Middle East tensions resulting from the United States–Israeli war against Iran.
In a statement on its website, the European Union said the Council had added 16 individuals and three entities to its sanctions list for their alleged roles in the violent crackdown on street protests in Iran in January 2026.
Among those sanctioned is Iran’s Deputy Minister of the Interior for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs, as well as several commanders from local branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who were allegedly directly involved in the crackdown on protesters.
The EU also sanctioned the Mohammad Rasulullah Corps, responsible for coordinating IRGC and Basij forces in Tehran, and the Imam Reza Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC’s local branch in Khorasan Razavi Province, where authorities reportedly carried out particularly severe repression.
In addition, members of Iran’s judiciary were included in the new sanctions package.
The EU said the officials had been involved in prosecuting peaceful protesters, civil and social activists, journalists, and political figures critical of the authorities.
The sanctions also target the head of the Organization for Prisons and Security and Educational Measures of the Islamic Republic of Iran, under whose tenure authorities reportedly documented widespread abuses in Iranian prisons.
Additionally, sanctions were imposed on Naji Research and Development Company (NRDC), an Iranian IT services and consultancy firm that developed the Nazer mobile application used by law enforcement as a surveillance tool to monitor citizens.
Those listed face asset freezes, travel bans within EU territories, and restrictions preventing EU citizens and companies from providing them with funds or economic resources.
The bloc also maintains a ban on exporting equipment to Iran that could be used for internal repression or telecommunications monitoring.
The legal acts formalising the sanctions have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Nairametrics reported earlier in March that the EU announced sanctions on Iranian individuals in the wake of the war that broke out in the region around that time.
The measures have been renewed annually and are currently extended until April 13, 2026, with additional packages adopted since 2022 amid growing international concerns.
With the latest measures, EU sanctions related to human rights violations in Iran now apply to 263 individuals and 53 entities.