Council Decision (CFSP) 2023/727 of 31 March 2023 amending Decision 2011/235/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Iran
Date: 2023-03-31
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Iran, economic sanctions, international sanctions, legal person, natural person




L_2023094EN.01005601.xml










3.4.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 94/56








            COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2023/727
of 31 March 2023
         
amending Decision 2011/235/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Iran


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 29 thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:







(1)


On 12 April 2011, the Council adopted Decision 2011/235/CFSP (1).












(2)


On the basis of a review of Decision 2011/235/CFSP, the Council considers that the restrictive measures set out therein should be renewed until 13 April 2024.












(3)


The entry concerning one person designated in the Annex to Decision 2011/235/CFSP should be removed from that Annex. The entries concerning 18 persons and three entities included in the Annex to Decision 2011/235/CFSP should be updated.












(4)


Decision 2011/235/CFSP should therefore be amended accordingly,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
Decision 2011/235/CFSP is amended as follows:






(1)


in Article 6, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   This Decision shall apply until 13 April 2024. It shall be kept under constant review. It shall be renewed, or amended as appropriate, if the Council deems that its objectives have not been met.’
;









(2)


the Annex is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.






Article 2
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




Done at Brussels, 31 March 2023.


For the Council


The President

J. ROSWALL
            





(1)  Council Decision 2011/235/CFSP of 12 April 2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Iran (OJ L 100, 14.4.2011, p. 51).




ANNEX
The Annex to Decision 2011/235/CFSP (‘List of persons and entities referred to in Articles 1 and 2’) is amended as follows:






(1)


entry 82 (concerning SARAFRAZ Mohammad (Dr.)) in the list headed ‘Persons’ is deleted;










(2)


the entries for the following 18 persons are replaced by the following:






 


Persons










 


Name


Identifying information


Reasons


Date of listing




‘17.


SOLTANI Hodjatoleslam Seyed Mohammad


Gender: male


Since 2018, Hodjatoleslam Seyed Mohammad Soltani serves as deputy prosecutor in the Revolutionary Prosecution Office, Mashhad. Head of the Organisation for Islamic Propaganda in the province of Khorasan-Razavi. Former Judge, Mashhad Revolutionary Court (2013-2019). Trials under his jurisdiction have been conducted summarily and inside closed session, without adherence to basic rights of the accused. As execution rulings were issued en masse, death sentences were issued without proper observance of fair hearing procedures. He is responsible for issuing heavy prison sentences to citizens of the Baha’is minority, due to their religious beliefs, through unfair trials with lack of due process, and the use of extrajudicial procedures.


12.4.2011




19.


JAFARI-DOLATABADI Abbas


POB: Yazd (Iran)
DOB: 1953
Gender: male


Former advisor to the Supreme Disciplinary Court of judges (29 April 2019-at least 2020). Former Prosecutor General of Tehran (August 2009-April 2019). Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi’s office indicted a large number of protesters, including individuals who took part in the December 2009 Ashura Day protests. He ordered the closure of Karroubi’s office in September 2009 and the arrest of several reformist politicians, and he banned two reformist political parties in June 2010. His office charged protesters with “Muharebeh”, or “enmity against God”, which carries the death penalty, and denied due process to those facing the death penalty. His office also targeted and arrested reformists, human rights activists and members of the media, as part of a broad crackdown on the political opposition.
In October 2018, he announced to the media that four detained Iranian environmental activists were to be charged with “sowing corruption on earth”, a charge which carries the death penalty.


12.4.2011




21.


MOHSENI-EJEI Gholam-Hossein


POB: Ejiyeh (Iran)
DOB: circa 1956
Gender: male


Chief of Justice since July 2021. Member of the Expediency Council. Prosecutor General of Iran from September 2009 until 2014. Former Deputy Head of the Judiciary (2014 until July 2021) and spokesperson of the Judiciary (2010-2019). Intelligence Minister from 2005 until 2009. While he was Intelligence Minister during the 2009 elections, intelligence agents under his command were responsible for the detention and torture of, and the extraction of false confessions under pressure from, hundreds of activists, journalists, dissidents and reformist politicians. In addition, political figures were coerced into making false confessions under unbearable interrogation, which included torture, abuse, blackmail and the threatening of family members. During the 2022/2023 protests, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei stated that there would be no leniency with protesters.


12.4.2011




25.


SALAVATI Abdolghassem


Gender: male


Judge of the Special Court for Financial Crimes, branch 4 since 2019. Former Head of Tehran Revolutionary Court, branch 15. Committing Judge in the Tehran Tribunal. In charge of the post-election cases, he was the Judge presiding over the “show trials” in summer 2009, he condemned to death two monarchists that appeared in the show trials. He has sentenced more than a hundred political prisoners, human rights activists and demonstrators to lengthy prison sentences.
In 2018, reports showed that he continued to hand down similar sentences without proper observance of fair hearing procedures.
During the 2022 protests, Abdolghassem Salavati sentenced many protestors to death including Mohammad Beroghani and Saman Seydi.


12.4.2011




43.


JAVANI Yadollah


Gender: male
Nationality: Iranian
Rank: Brigadier-General


IRGC deputy commander for political affairs. Has made numerous attempts to suppress free speech and free discourse through his public statements supporting the arrest and punishment of protesters and dissenters. One of the first high-ranking officials to demand in 2009 the arrest of Moussavi, Karroubi and Khatami. Has supported the use of techniques that breach rights to a fair trial, including public confessions, and he has released the contents of interrogations before trial. Evidence also indicates that he has condoned the use of violence against protesters and as an integral member of the IRGC he is highly likely to have been aware of the use of harsh interrogation techniques to force confessions.


10.10.2011




57.


HAJMOHAM-MADI Aziz (a.k.a. Aziz Hajmohammadi, Noorollah Azizmohammadi)


POB: Tehran (Iran)
DOB: 1948
Gender: male


Judge at branch 71 of the Tehran Provincial Criminal Court. Working for the judiciary since 1971, he has been involved in several trials of demonstrators, inter alia, that of Abdol-Reza Ghanbari, a teacher arrested in January 2010 and sentenced to death for his political activities.


10.10.2011




58.


BAGHERI Mohammad-Bagher


Gender: male


In 2019, Mohammad-Bagher Bagheri was appointed Deputy Head of the Judiciary for International Affairs and Secretary of the Human Rights Staff replacing Mohammad Javad Larijani in this position by a decree of Ebrahim Raisi. He was judge at the Supreme court between December 2015 and 2019. Former vice-chairman of the judiciary administration of South Khorasan province, in charge of crime prevention. In addition to his acknowledging, in June 2011, 140 executions for capital offences between March 2010 and March 2011, about 100 other executions are reported to have taken place in the same period and in the same province of South Khorasan without either the families or the lawyers being notified. He was, therefore, complicit in a grave violation of the right to due process, contributing to a high number of death sentences.


10.10.2011




60.


HOSSEINI Dr Seyyed Mohammad (a.k.a. HOSSEYNI Dr Seyyed Mohammad; Seyed, Sayyed and Sayyid)
دکتر سيد محمد حسيني


POB: Rafsanjan, Kerman (Iran)
DOB: 23.7.1961
Gender: male


Vice-president for parliamentary affairs under President Raisi since August 2021. Former advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and spokesperson for YEKTA, a hard-line political faction. Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance (2009-2013). Former Deputy Director of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Former advisor to the Director of Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation (ICRO). Ex-IRGC, he was complicit in the repression of journalists.


10.10.2011




66.


MIRHEJAZI Ali Ashgar


DOB: 8 September 1946
POB: Isfahan
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male


Intelligence advisor to the Supreme Leader. Part of the Supreme Leader’s inner circle, one of those responsible for planning the suppression of protests, which has been implemented since 2009, and associated with those responsible for supressing the protests.
He was also responsible for planning the suppression of public unrest in December 2017/2018 and November 2019.


23.3.2012




69.


MORTAZAVI Seyyed Solat


POB: Farsan, Tchar Mahal-o-Bakhtiari (South) – (Iran)
DOB: 1967
Gender: male


Since 19 October 2022 (acting) Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare. From September 2021 until October 2022, Vice-President for Executive Affairs of Iran and Head of the Presidential Office. Head of the real estate branch of the Mostazafan Foundation, which was directly run by Supreme Leader Khamenei from 16 September 2019 until September 2021. Until November 2019, Director of the Tehran branch of the Foundation Astan Qods Razavi. Former mayor of the second largest city of Iran, Mashhad, where public executions are regularly carried out. Former Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs, appointed in 2009. In that capacity, he was responsible for directing the repression of persons who spoke up in defence of their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression. Later appointed as Head of the Iranian Election Committee for the parliamentary elections in 2012 and for the presidential elections in 2013.


23.3.2012




77.


JAFARI Reza


DOB: 1967
Gender: male


Former advisor to the Disciplinary Court for Judges (2012-2022). Member of the “Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content”, a body responsible for the censorship of websites and social media. Former Head of special prosecution of cybercrime between 2007 and 2012. Was responsible for the repression of freedom of expression, including through the arrest, detention and prosecution of bloggers and journalists. Persons arrested on suspicion of cybercrime were mistreated and subjected to an unfair judicial process.


23.3.2012




81.


MOUSSAVI Seyed Mohammad Bagher (a.k.a. MOUSAVI Sayed Mohammed Baqir)
محمدباقر موسوی


Gender: male


Ahwaz Revolutionary Court judge, Branch 2 (2011-2015), imposed death sentences on a number of people, including five Ahwazi Arabs, Mohammad Ali Amouri, Hashem Sha’bani Amouri, Hadi Rashedi, Sayed Jaber Alboshoka, Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, on 17 March 2012 for “activities against national security” and “enmity against God”. The sentences were upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court on 9 January 2013. The five were arrested without charge for over a year, tortured and sentenced without due process. Hadi Rashedi and Hashem Sha'bani Amouri were executed in 2014.


12.3.2013




83.


JAFARI Asadollah


Gender: male


Currently Attorney General in Isfahan. In this position, he ordered violent reactions against protesters who took to the streets in November 2021 to protest against water shortages. According to some reports, Asadollah Jafari has announced the formation of a special office to investigate the arrested protesters.
From 2017 to 2021, he held the position of Attorney General in North Khorasan Province.
As former Prosecutor of Mazandaran Province (2006-2017), Jafari recommended the imposition of the death penalty in cases he prosecuted, which has resulted in many executions including public executions, and in circumstances where the imposition of the death penalty is contrary to international human rights, including by being disproportionate and excessive punishment. Jafari has also been responsible for illegal arrests and violations of the rights of Baha’i detainees from initial arrest to keeping them in solitary confinement in the Intelligence Detention Centre.


12.3.2013




84.


EMADI Hamid Reza (a.k.a. Hamidreza Emadi)


POB: Hamedan (Iran)
DOB: circa 1973
Place of residence: Tehran
Place of work: Press TV HQ, Tehran
Gender: male


Former Press TV Newsroom Director. Former Press TV Senior Producer.
Responsible for producing and broadcasting the forced confessions of detainees, including journalists, political activists and persons belonging to Kurdish and Arab minorities, violating internationally recognised rights to a fair trial and due process. Independent broadcast regulator OFCOM fined Press TV in the UK GBP 100 000  for broadcasting the forced confession of Iranian-Canadian journalist and film-maker Maziar Bahari in 2011, which was filmed in prison whilst Bahari was under duress. NGOs have reported further instances of forced televised confessions by Press TV. Emadi is therefore associated with violating the right to due process and fair trial.
In 2016, he underwent disciplinary proceedings for sexual harassment against his colleague Sheena Shirani, which led to his suspension from the service.


12.3.2013




92.


ASHTARI Hossein


POB: Isfahan (a.k.a. Esfahan, Ispahan)
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Position: Commander in Chief of the Iranian police force


Hossein Ashtari was Commander in Chief of the Iranian police force from March 2015 to January 2023 and is a member of the National Security Council. The police force includes the Emdad Units and the Special Units. Iran’s ordinary police force, the Emdad Units and the Special Units used lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests in Iran, causing the deaths of and injuries to unarmed protesters and other civilians in many cities across the country. As a member of the National Security Council, Ashtari took part in the sessions that resulted in the orders to use lethal force to suppress the November 2019 protests. Ashtari therefore bears responsibility for serious human rights violations in Iran.


12.4.2021




95.


VASEGHI Leyla (a.k.a. VASEQI Layla, VASEGHI Leila, VASEGHI Layla)


POB: Sari, Mazandaran Province (Iran)
DOB: 1352 (Iranian Hijri calendar), 1972 or 1973 (Gregorian calendar)
Gender: female
Position: Former governor of Shahr-e Qods and Head of the City Security Council


As the governor of Shahr-e Qods and Head of the City Security Council from September 2019 until November 2021, Leyla Vaseghi ordered the police and other armed forces to use lethal means during the November 2019 protests, causing the deaths of and injuries to unarmed protesters and other civilians. As the governor of Shahr-e Qods and Head of the City Security Council, Vaseghi bears responsibility for serious human rights violations in Iran. In the context of the 2022/2023 protests, she is still remembered by Iranians as having one of the leading roles in violent repression, with a parallel made between her public words and the current repression.


12.4.2021




137.


REZVANI Ali (a.k.a REZWANI Ali)
رضوانی علی


DOB: 1984
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Function: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reporter and news anchor/presenter on political and security affairs


Ali Rezvani is a reporter for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and news anchor/presenter on IRIB’s nightly 20.30 news programme.
IRIB is a state-controlled Iranian media organisation and tasked with spreading government information. IRIB’s nightly 20.30 news broadcast, which airs on Channel 2, is the country’s leading news programme and considered to be IRIB’s primary platform for implementing the agendas of security forces, including the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Documented cases show that the 20.30 news airs forced confessions.
In his capacity as IRIB reporter, Ali Rezvani participates in interrogations leading to forced confessions, thereby directly engaging in and facilitating serious human rights violations. In his capacity as news anchor of the 20.30 news, Rezvani promotes the Iranian security forces’ agenda, which condones serious human rights violations such as torture and arbitrary arrests and detention. Rezvani also peddles propaganda against critics in order to intimidate them and to justify and encourage their ill-treatment, thereby violating their right to free expression.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


12.12.2022




142.


BORMAHANI Mohsen (a.ka. BARMAHANI Mohsen)
محسن برمهانی


DOB: 24.5.1979
POB: Neishabur, Iran
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Passport no: A54062245 (Iran), expires 12.7.2026
National ID no: 1063893488 (Iran)
Function: Deputy Director of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)


Mohsen Bormahani is the Deputy Director of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which acts as a regime mouthpiece.
In his position, Bormahani holds responsibility for IRIB content. IRIB severely restricts and denies the free flow of information to the Iranian people. Furthermore, IRIB is actively involved in organising and broadcasting forced “confessions” of regime critics, obtained through intimidation and severe violence. These “confessions” are often aired following public protests, or prior to an execution as a means of reducing public backlash.
Whereas several high-profile state broadcasting personnel have resigned recently and disavowed the Iranian regime’s violent response to the 2022 protests in Iran, Bormahani continues to act in his position as Deputy Director and in recent statements has defended the regime.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


12.12.2022’



















(3)


the entries for the following three entities are replaced by the following:






 


Entities










 


Name


Identifying information


Reasons


Date of listing




‘2.


Evin Prison


Address: Tehran Province, Tehran, District 2, Dasht-e Behesht (Iran)


Evin Prison is a detention centre where political prisoners have been held and severe human rights abuses, including torture, have repeatedly taken place over the past years and decades.
November 2019 protesters were, and at least to some extent still are, detained in Evin Prison as political prisoners. Prisoners in Evin Prison are being deprived of basic procedural rights, and are sometimes held in solitary confinement or overcrowded cells with poor hygienic conditions. There are detailed reports of physical and psychological torture. Detainees are denied contact with family and lawyers as well as adequate health treatment.
In the context of the 2022/2023 protests, cases of torture are still being reported. The cause of the fire that led to several deaths and injuries in October 2022 has not been made public and the prison refuses any international inquiries. In the context of the fire, it also became clear that the prison uses internationally condemned landmines to prevent prison escapes. Several third-state nationals have been arbitrarily detained in Evin Prison.


12.4.2021




3.


Fashafouyeh Prison (a.k.a. Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, Hasanabad-e Qom Prison, Greater Tehran Prison)


Address: Tehran Province, Hasanabad, Bijin Industrial Zone, Tehran, Qom Old Road (Iran)
Telephone: +98 21 5625 8050


Fashafouyeh Prison is a detention centre designated originally to detain offenders of drug-related crimes, recently also holding political prisoners and, in some cases, forcing them to share cells with drug addicts. The living and hygienic conditions are very poor, lacking basic needs like clean drinking water.
During the November 2019 protests, several protesters were detained in Fashafouyeh Prison, including minors. Reports indicate that November 2019 protesters were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment at Fashafouyeh Prison, for example by deliberately wounding them with boiling water and through denial of medical treatment. According to an Amnesty International report on the crackdown of the November 2019 protests, children as young as 15 have been detained alongside adults in Fashafouyeh Prison. Three November 2019 protesters who are currently being held in Fashafouyeh Prison were sentenced to death by a court in Tehran.
Since the beginning of the 2022/2023 protests, it has been reported that 3 000  persons were transferred to Fashafouyeh prison and that 835 are currently still there. Several cases of torture and forced confessions have been reported.


12.4.2021




4.


Rajaee Shahr Prison (a.k.a. Rajai Shahr Prison, Rajaishahr, Raja’i Shahr, Reja’i Shahr, Rajayi Shahr, Gorhardasht Prison, Gohar Dasht Prison)


Address: Alborz Province, Karaj, Gohardasht, Moazzen Blvd (Iran)
Telephone: +98 26 3448 9826


Rajaee Shahr Prison has been known for the deprivation of human rights, including severe physical and psychological torture of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience as well as mass executions without fair trial, ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Hundreds of detainees, including children, were severely mistreated in Rajaee Shahr Prison in the aftermath of the November 2019 protests. There are credible reports about numerous cases of torture and other forms of cruel punishment, including cases involving minors.
Since the beginning of the 2022/2023 protests, numerous opponents have been arbitrarily jailed there in conditions that some inmate journalists have described as dangerous and hardly liveable.


12.4.2021’