Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/690 of 4 April 2025 amending Decision 2011/235/CFSP concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation in Iran
Date: 2025-04-04
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, Iran, economic sanctions, international sanctions, natural person




L_202500690EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/690


7.4.2025







            COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2025/690
         
of 4 April 2025
         
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 2026.












(3)


The Council has concluded that the entries concerning two persons designated in the Annex to Decision 2011/235/CFSP should be removed, and that the entries concerning 20 persons 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, the date ‘13 April 2025’ is replaced by that of ‘13 April 2026’;










(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, 4 April 2025.


For the Council


The President

A. SZŁAPKA
            





(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, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2011/235/oj).




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)


in the list headed ‘Persons’, entries 68 (concerning RAMIN Mohammad-Ali) and 169 (concerning NILFRUSHAN Abbas Mortaza) are deleted;










(2)


in the list headed ‘Persons’, the entries for the following 20 persons are replaced by the following:

Persons










 


Name


Identifying information


Reasons


Date of listing




‘23.


PIR-ABASSI Abbas


Gender: male
Function: Judge at the Shahid Muftah Judicial Complex; former magistrate of a criminal chamber; former judge, Tehran Revolutionary Court, branch 26


Judge at the Shahid Muftah Judicial Complex. Former magistrate of a criminal chamber. Former judge, Tehran Revolutionary Court, branch 26. He was in charge of post-election cases. He issued long prison sentences during unfair trials against human rights activists and issued several death sentences for protesters.


12.4.2011




29.


BOZORGNIA Mostafa


Gender: male
Function: Head of ward 350 of Evin Prison


Head of ward 350 of Evin Prison, known for being the place of imprisonment of the regime’s political prisoners and for its particularly poor detention conditions. He unleashed on a number of occasions disproportionate violence upon prisoners.


12.4.2011




33.


ABBASZADEH-MESHKINI Mahmoud


Gender: male


Member of Parliament from February 2020 to 2024 and Speaker of the Parliament’s Committee for National Security and Foreign Affairs who continues to support the Iranian regime, including by justifying the abuses committed by the regime against the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement.
Advisor to Iran’s High Council for Human Rights until 2019. Former secretary of the High Council for Human Rights. Former Governor of Ilam Province. Former Political Director of the Interior Ministry. As Head of the Article 10 Committee of the Law on Activities of Political Parties and Groups, he was in charge of authorising demonstrations and other public events and registering political parties.
In 2010, he suspended the activities of two reformist political parties linked to Mir-Hossein Mousavi – the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organisation. From 2009 onwards, he has consistently and continuously prohibited all non-governmental gatherings, and has therefore denied the constitutional right to protest and caused many arrests of peaceful demonstrators in contravention of the right to freedom of assembly.
In 2009, he also denied the opposition a permit for a ceremony to mourn people killed in protests over the presidential elections.


10.10.2011




40.


HABIBI Mohammad Reza


Gender: male
Function: Chief Justice of Isfahan; former Attorney General of Isfahan; former Deputy Prosecutor of Isfahan; former Head of the Ministry of Justice office in Yazd


Chief Justice of Isfahan, former Attorney General of Isfahan, former Deputy Prosecutor of Isfahan and former Head of the Ministry of Justice office in Yazd. In his various roles in the judiciaries of Isfahan and Yazd, including in his current role as Chief Justice of Isfahan, he has directly participated in and is responsible for the violation of citizens’ rights, in particular the right to freedom of speech, the right to protest, the right to life, and the violation of the prohibition on torture. Mohammad Reza Habibi also played a direct role in the suppression and gross violation of the right to protest during the nationwide protests in January 2017 and November 2019. Therefore, in his role as Chief Justice of Isfahan, he is responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


10.10.2011




46.


KAMALIAN Behrouz
(a.k.a. Hackers Brain, Behrooz_Ice)


POB: Tehran (Iran)
DOB: 1983
Gender: male
Function: Head of the “Ashiyaneh” cyber group


Head of the “Ashiyaneh” cyber group linked with the Iranian regime. “Ashiyaneh” Digital Security, founded by Behrouz Kamalian, is responsible for intensive cyber-attacks on both domestic opponents and reformists and foreign institutions. Kamalian’s “Ashiyaneh” organisation’s work has assisted the regime’s crackdown against the opposition, which has involved numerous serious human rights violations.


10.10.2011




48.


MAHSOULI Sadeq
(a.k.a. MAHSULI Sadeq)


POB: Oroumieh (Iran)
DOB: 1959/1960
Gender: male
Function: Secretary-General (and former Deputy Secretary-General) of the Paydari Front (Front of Islamic Stability)


Secretary-General of the Paydari Front (Front of Islamic Stability) since 2021 and Deputy Secretary-General of the Paydari Front before 2021. The Paydari Front has long been active in state capture practices, infiltrating institutions and indoctrinating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In the wake of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, launched in September 2022, the Paydari Front, under the leadership of Mahsouli, played a critical role in pushing through the draconian hijab and chastity laws.
Mahsouli is a former advisor to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is also a former member of the Expediency Council and former Deputy Chief of the Perseverance Front. He was Minister of Welfare and Social Security between 2009 and 2011 and Minister of the Interior until August 2009. As Minister of the Interior, Mahsouli had authority over all police forces, interior ministry security agents, and plain-clothes agents. The forces under his direction were responsible for attacks on the dormitories of Tehran University on 14 June 2009 and the torture of students in the basement of the Ministry (the notorious basement level 4). Other protestors were severely abused at the Kahrizak Detention Centre, which was operated by police under Mahsouli’s control.


10.10.2011




54.


TAMADDON Morteza
(a.k.a. TAMADON Morteza)


POB: Shahr Kord-Isfahan (Iran)
DOB: 1959
Gender: male
Function: Board member at Khajeh Nasireddin Tusi University of Technology; former Head of Tehran provincial Public Security Council; former IRGC Governor-General of Tehran Province


Politician closely associated with former Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Board member at Khajeh Nasireddin Tusi University of Technology. Former Head of Tehran provincial Public Security Council. Former IRGC Governor-General of Tehran Province. In his capacity as Governor and Head of Tehran provincial Public Security Council, he bore overall responsibility for all repressive activities undertaken by the IRGC in Tehran Province, including cracking down on political protests since June 2009.


10.10.2011




57.


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


POB: Tehran (Iran)
DOB: 1948
Gender: male
Function: Attorney in Tehran since 2020; former judge at branch 71 of the Tehran Provincial Criminal Court


Attorney in Tehran since 2020. Former 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, including that of Abdol-Reza Ghanbari, a teacher arrested in January 2010 and sentenced to death for his political activities. He has a track record of human rights violations, including the issuing of inhumane sentences, death sentences and prison sentences for political prisoners.


10.10.2011




58.


BAGHERI Mohammad-Bagher


DOB: 1941
Gender: male
Function: Deputy Head of the Judiciary for International Affairs and Secretary of the Human Rights Staff


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, approximately 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 of those executed 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




73.


FARHADI Ali


Gender: male
Function: Head of the Government Penal Organization; former Deputy Head of Inspectorate of Legal Affairs and Public Inspection of the Ministry of Justice of Tehran;.former prosecutor of Karaj


In 2024, Ali Farhadi was appointed by the Iranian Minister of Justice as head of the Government Penal Organization, which is an organization lacking impartiality and disrespecting citizens’ rights. Former Deputy Head of Inspectorate of Legal Affairs and Public Inspection of the Ministry of Justice of Tehran. Former prosecutor of Karaj. Responsible for grave violations of human rights, including prosecuting trials in which the death penalty was handed down. There were a high number of executions in Karaj region during his time as prosecutor.


23.3.2012




79.


RASHIDI AGHDAM Ali Ashraf


Gender: male
Function: Deputy Director of Health, Correction and Education for Tehran Prisons; former head of Evin Prison; former head of Diesel Abad Prison in Kermanshah


Deputy Director of Health, Correction and Education for Tehran Prisons since 2015. Former head of Evin Prison (2012-2015) and Diesel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. During his tenure, conditions in the prisons deteriorated and reports referenced intensified ill-treatment of prisoners. In October 2012, nine female prisoners went on hunger strike in Evin Prison in protest at the violation of their rights and their violent treatment by prison guards.


12.3.2013




107.


VAHIDI Ahmad
وحیدى احمد


POB: Shiraz (Iran)
DOB: 27.7.1958
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Function: Member of Expediency Council; former Minister of Interior


Ahmad Vahidi was appointed member of the Expediency Council for a 5-year term on 22 September 2022. He was the Iranian Minister of Interior from 25 August 2021 until 2024. As such, he was responsible for Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF).
During his time in office, an unprecedented number of military and security officials were appointed to provincial governorships who continue to play key roles in coordinating crowd-control activities by police special forces, the Basij militia and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Blatant and severe human rights violations by the LEF, such as indiscriminate shooting with live ammunition at peaceful protesters, including children, have been widely documented since protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini started in mid-September 2022. Over 70 protesters have died and hundreds have been seriously injured, including children. Since the beginning of the demonstrations, police forces have also arbitrarily detained numerous human rights defenders and journalists. Vahidi has also publicly advocated for a harsh approach towards persons participating in the demonstrations.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


14.11.2022




125.


MOHAMMADIAN Abbas-Ali
محمدیان عباس-علی


Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Function: Police commander of Greater Tehran; former head of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) in Alborz (Karaj) province


Abbas-Ali Mohammadian has been the police commander of Greater Tehran since January 2023. He is the former head of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) in Alborz (Karaj) province, a position he held from 2017 to 2023.
Alborz (Karaj) is a province where major demonstrations have been taking place since September 2022 that have been met with excessive police violence. Security forces have frequently shot directly at peaceful protestors, leading to many deaths, including of children.
As police commander of Greater Tehran, he is responsible for implementing policies violating women’s rights.
As former head of the LEF in Alborz (Karaj) province and current police commander of Greater Tehran, Abbas-Ali Mohammadian is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


14.11.2022




140.


MIRAHMADI Seyyed Majid
مجید سید میراحمدى


POB: Iran
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Rank: Brigadier General
Function: Head of Arbaeen Central Headquarters; former Deputy Minister of Interior of Iran


Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Mirahmadi is head of Arbaeen Central Headquarters – a position traditionally held by members of the security forces. He was Iran’s Deputy Minister of Interior until 2024, responsible for overseeing Iran’s security and police forces, actors that are involved in serious human rights violations in Iran.
Iran’s security and police forces are violently clamping down on protests, shooting directly at peaceful protesters and arbitrarily arresting people with total disregard for their human rights.
In his statements, Mirahmadi refers to the protests as riots that have to end, and criminalises and threatens those participating in peaceful protests. He is also personally whitewashing the serious human rights violations committed by forces under his authority, for example, by claiming that 16-year-old protester Nika Shakrami committed suicide. Reports indicate that it is very likely that she died at the hands of security forces.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


12.12.2022




145.


KARIMI Mohsen
محصن کریمی


Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Rank: Brigadier-General
Function: Senior Advisor to the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces; former Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Markazi province


Since May 2024, Brigadier-General Mohsen Karimi is the Senior Advisor to the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces. He is the former commander of the IRGC in Markazi province, also known as the Ruhollah Corps. The Ruhollah Corps is a military unit of the IRGC with its headquarters located in Arak and is responsible for commanding and controlling all units of the IRGC and Basij located in Markazi province.
He is responsible for the security forces’ violent repression of protests in 2022, which led to the death of 19-year-old Mehrshad Shahidi in an IRGC detention centre in Arak.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


12.12.2022




177.


MOSTAFAVI Seyed Mojtaba
سید مجتبی مصطفوى
(a.k.a. MORTAZAVI, Mojtaba; MOSTAF, Mojtaba)


DOB: 2.4.1987
POB: Tehran, Iran
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
National ID: No 0080467741 (Iran)
Function: Member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS); co-founder and CEO of Ravin Academy


Seyed Mojtaba Mostafavi is a member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and co-founder and CEO of EU-listed Ravin Academy, an entity that trains individuals in cyber security and hacking, and recruits from among these trainees for the MOIS.
The MOIS is widely involved in infiltrating internal opposition groups, monitoring domestic threats and expatriate dissents and arresting alleged spies and dissidents.
Seyed Mojtaba Mostafavi is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


20.2.2023




185.


NESARI Habibollah Jan







POB: Iran
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Rank: Brigadier General
Function: Commander of Imam Hassan Mujtaba Police Officer Training University; former deputy in charge of training and education for the Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF)


Brigadier General Habibollah Jan Nesari has been the commander of Imam Hassan Mujtaba Police Officer Training University since the end of 2023. He is the former deputy in charge of training and education for the EU-listed Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (LEF), a position he held from 2019 to 2023).
Between 2016 and 30 December 2019, he served as a deputy commander of the Special Units of the LEF.
In his capacity as deputy commander, he was responsible for supervising the forces in using lethal and non-lethal weapons during the nationwide protests in November 2019, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of protestors. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity by the International People’s Tribunal on Iran’s Atrocities for his role in the crackdown on protesters in his capacity as deputy commander. As part of the security forces, the police forces are found to have designed and implemented a plan to commit crimes against humanity as well as murder, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence in order to quell the protests and conceal the crimes committed during the November 2019 protests.
As deputy commander in charge of training and education for the LEF and as commander of Imam Hassan Mujtaba Police Officer Training University, Nesari has been personally responsible for the human rights violations carried out by the LEF. The LEF, which he has trained, took part in the violent crackdown on protestors during the protests that erupted in September 2022, including by the deadly use of force against Iranian protesters.
He is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


20.2.2023




202.


SHARIF Ramezan
شریف رمظان


POB: Iran
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Function: Head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Sacred Defense Documentation and Research Center; former IRGC spokesman


Ramezan Sharif has been the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Sacred Defense Documentation and Research Center since July 2024. He is a former spokesman of the IRGC.
The IRGC has been heavily involved in the active and violent suppression of the protests in Iran in 2022 and 2023 and is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations.
In his role, Sharif is covering up and condoning serious human rights violations committed by the IRGC.
Therefore, Ramezan Sharif is responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


20.2.2023




203.


JOMEIRI Fathollah







POB: Iran
Nationality: Iranian
Gender: male
Rank: Brigadier General
Function: Head of Intelligence Protection Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Security Unit of the IRGC


Brigadier General Fathollah Jomeiri is the head of the Intelligence Protection Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also called the Security Unit of the IRGC.
This unit is responsible for protecting vital infrastructure and key areas of the country, important individuals, such as regime VIPs, but above all protecting the regime.
The IRGC has been heavily involved in the active and violent suppression of the protests in Iran in 2022 and 2023 and is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations.
In his role, Jomeiri is steering, facilitating and condoning serious human rights violations committed by the IRGC.
Therefore, Fathollah Jomeiri is responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


20.2.2023




224.


NIKVARZ Mohsen
محسن نیک ورز


POB: Iran
Gender: male
Nationality: Iranian
Function: Head of the Judicial Protection and Information Department of the Prosecutor’s Office in Kerman Province; former Public Prosecutor of Sirjan


Mohsen Nikvarz has been the head of the Judicial Protection and Information Department of the Prosecutor’s Office in Kerman Province since January 2024.
As the Public Prosecutor of Sirjan, Mohsen Nikvarz was responsible for several arbitrary arrests of lawyers and for securing death sentences in Sirjan during the 2019 protests. In 2023, he was promoted to Head of the Center for Protection and Intelligence of the Judiciary of Kerman province.
In the context of the protests that erupted in September 2022, Nikvarz was involved in the Maryam Arvin case, prosecuting her for her activities as a defence lawyer for protesters. Following her arrest, for which Nikvarz carries personal responsibility, Maryam Arvin was brutally tortured in prison.
Mohsen Nikvarz is therefore responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.


22.5.2023’











ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/690/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)