UANI Top 10 Iran Sanctions Targets [March 2024]

March 28, 2024 | Jason Brodsky and Kasra Aarabi

The “UANI Top 10 Iran Sanctions Targets” is a new monthly product that seeks to expose and restrict the nefarious activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, both inside and outside of the country. Using primary data and intelligence, UANI experts identify and publish a list of 10 individuals and entities for the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU), and other Western allies to target with sanctions. Many of these persons and organizations fly below the radar of public scrutiny. UANI aims to increase awareness of their roles. Where available, these listings include dates of birth (DOB) or year of birth (YOB).

Individuals:

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Ahmad Khatami, Member of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts and Interim Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran

 

DOB: May 8, 1960

Ahmad Khatami is a member of the clerical establishment. He has served as a member of the Guardian Council which has suppressed elections and engaged in mass disqualifications of candidates, depriving Iranians of their fundamental freedoms. This includes their rights to self-determination. Khatami has threatened physical violence against Iranians demonstrating against the Islamic Republic and urged security forces to exhibit “no mercy.” He thanked the judiciary “for sending the first rioter to the gallows” after the killing of Mohsen Shekari, the first participant in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement to be executed by the Islamic Republic. Khatami’s conduct has been so egregious that the EU sanctioned him for human rights abuses. The U.S. and the rest of its allies should sanction him as well.

Mehdi Shabzendedar Jahromi, Member of the Guardian Council

 

YOB: 1953

Mehdi Shabzendedar Jahromi is a member of the Islamic Republic’s Guardian Council which has suppressed elections and engaged in mass disqualifications of candidates, depriving Iranians of their fundamental freedoms. This includes their rights to self-determination. Canada has sanctioned the Guardian Council itself “as an entity that blocks meaningful participation in Iran’s elections by disqualifying candidates who do not align with the regime’s ideology and upholds laws that systemically violate the human rights of Iranians.”

Ahmad Hosseini Khorasani, Member of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts

 

YOB: 1959

Ahmad Hosseini Khorasani is a member of the Islamic Republic’s Guardian Council which has suppressed elections and engaged in mass disqualifications of candidates, depriving Iranians of their fundamental freedoms. This includes their rights to self-determination. Canada has sanctioned the Guardian Council itself “as an entity that blocks meaningful participation in Iran’s elections by disqualifying candidates who do not align with the regime’s ideology and upholds laws that systemically violate the human rights of Iranians.” Additionally, Canada has sanctioned the Assembly of Experts as “an entity implicated in gross and systematic violations of human rights for its neglect in upholding constitutional provisions such as Article 38, which forbids torture.”

Mohammad-Reza Modarresi Yazdi, Member of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts

 

YOB: 1955

Mohammad-Reza Modarresi Yazdi is a member of the Islamic Republic’s Guardian Council which has suppressed elections and engaged in mass disqualifications of candidates, depriving Iranians of their fundamental freedoms. This includes their rights to self-determination. Modarresi Yazdi supported the disqualification of a Zoroastrian candidate during city council elections in 2017. Canada has sanctioned the Guardian Council itself “as an entity that blocks meaningful participation in Iran’s elections by disqualifying candidates who do not align with the regime’s ideology and upholds laws that systemically violate the human rights of Iranians.” Additionally, Canada has sanctioned the Assembly of Experts as “an entity implicated in gross and systematic violations of human rights for its neglect in upholding constitutional provisions such as Article 38, which forbids torture.”

Ali Akbar Raefipour, Head of the Masaf Institute


DOB: April 28, 1984
 

Ali Akbar Raefipour is an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated indoctrinator and antisemitic conspiracy preacher who has been involved in nefarious IRGC-led cyber operations and domestic human rights abuses. As head of the Masaf Institute, which was set up via IRGC funds, Raefipour has led and overseen doxing operations against Iranian dissidents and acted as a critical enabler of IRGC Intelligence Organization human rights violations. Raefipour has been at the forefront of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories about global Jewry, Holocaust denial, and Freemasonry, as well as violent Islamist extremist doctrines, including the apocalyptic doctrine of Mahdism, which advocates violence against people of the Jewish faith. He has played a key role in radicalization and recruitment activities for IRGC-affiliated entities – such as members of the Basij militia – involved in the violent suppression of Iranian civilians.

Ruhollah Momen Nasab, Secretary General of the Islamic Revolutionary Front for Cyberspace

 

DOB: January 21, 1981

Ruhollah Momen Nasab is a key figure driving internet crackdowns in Iran and has been continuously involved in domestic human rights violations. The IRGC-affiliated Momen Nasab has played a critical role in devising plans to create a domestic intranet to deny Iranians access to the internet and disconnect them from communicating with the outside world. This includes acting as one of the key architects of the “Cyberspace Protection Bill” designed to increase internet censorship and restrictions in Iran. Momen Nasab was formerly the deputy head of the IRGC’s Basij Cyberspace Organization, where he spearheaded disinformation, misinformation, and doxing campaigns. He has served as secretary for Tehran Province’s Headquarters for Enjoining Rights and Forbidding Evil, which commits human rights and women’s rights violations in Iran. He is a member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace’s international committee. Momen Nasab is also affiliated with the IRGC’s Imam Hossein University.


Entities:

NAME:

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The Basij Cyberspace Organization

Established in 2017, the Basij Cyberspace Organization plays a key role in undertaking nefarious online operations – including major disinformation and doxing campaigns – and supporting IRGC radicalization efforts online. It has several branches, the most important of which is the “Popular Cyber Network” (known as “Shamsa”). Shamsa’s cyber army is engineering coordinated online attacks against Iranians at home and abroad. These range from manufactured smear campaigns to publishing private details of Iranians critical of the regime online resulting in their detainment by the IRGC. It has also been involved in domestic human rights abuses. Since January 3, the Basij Cyberspace Organisation has, in tandem with the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, been involved in an ongoing coordinated doxing operation against dissenting Iranians online, which has led to their subsequent detainment.

Seraj Cyberspace Organization
 

Created in 2013, the Seraj Cyberspace Organization (Seraj) is part of the IRGC’s psychological warfare apparatus that recruits, trains, and mobilizes pro-regime internet users to wage psychological warfare operations for the IRGC. Its nefarious activities online include: coordinated trolling campaigns on social media, propagating disinformation and misinformation, trending pro-regime hashtags, and manufacturing divisions amongst the Iranian opposition. Seraj is also heavily involved in IRGC radicalization and propaganda efforts, including actively promoting hijab enforcement. Seraj is directly linked to the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization. It has also been involved in domestic human rights abuses. Since January 3, the Seraj Cyberspace Organization has, in tandem with the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, been involved in an ongoing coordinated doxing operation against dissenting Iranians online, which has led to their subsequent detainment.

Masaf Institute

Founded in June 2011, the Masaf Institute is involved in nefarious IRGC-linked cyber operations inside and outside of Iran, as well as domestic human rights abuses. The Masaf Institute (an abbreviation for “Fighting Against Zionism, Humanism and Freemasonry”) was set up with IRGC funds by the antisemitic conspiracy preacher Ali Akbar Raefipour. Its activities range from developing pro-regime cyber armies and manufacturing targeted online attacks against opponents of the Islamic Republic to propaganda initiatives designed to promote violent Islamist extremist and antisemitic doctrines, such as sponsoring state-backed Holocaust Cartoon Competition. Its operations also include disseminating mass disinformation and misinformation. The Masaf Institute plays a key role in radicalizing, recruiting, organizing, and mobilizing pro-regime individuals affiliated with the IRGC’s Basij militia. Since January 3, the Masaf Institute has, in tandem with the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, been involved in an ongoing coordinated doxing operation against dissenting Iranians online, which has led to their subsequent detainment.

The Guardian Council

The Guardian Council is responsible for vetting candidates for state elections and can veto or demand changes to legislation passed by Iran’s parliament. For years, the Guardian Council has denied Iranians their fundamental rights to self determination through mass disqualification of candidates. As Canada has already done, the U.S. and the rest of its allies should sanction the Guardian Council.


For further information – including private briefings and further sourcing material – please contact Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), and Kasra Aarabi, director for IRGC research at UANI, at [email protected]. They are also on Twitter @JasonMBrodsky and @KasraAarabi.