Assessed Of Women's Enforcement, Britain Sanctions Against Iran's Moral Police: Including Two High Schools

Illustration of Iran's Moran Police. (Wikimedia Commons/Fars Media Corporation/Satyar Emami)

JAKARTA - British authorities announced sanctions imposed on senior Iranian security officials and moral police on Monday, saying they used the threat of detention and violence to control what Iranian women wear and behave publicly.

Mahsa Amini's 22-year-old death in police custody has sparked protests across Iran and internationally, with demonstrators calling for the fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In the aftermath of his death and ongoing protests, Britain said it had imposed sanctions on the moral police in its entirety, as well as its two leaders, Mohammed Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi and Tehran's Chief Division of Haji Ahmed Mirzaei.

"This sanction sends a clear message to Iranian authorities - we will hold you accountable for your oppression of women and girls and for the shocking violence you have committed against your own people," Foreign Minister James Cleanly said in a statement.

The sanctions were created using British law, designed to encourage Iran to comply with international human rights laws and respect human rights.

That means those named cannot travel to the UK and their assets stored in the UK will be frozen.

Last week, the Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Iran's power of attorney, Iran's most senior diplomat in the UK for a crackdown on protests.

Iranian authorities have described the protests as plots by Iranian enemies, including the United States.