Iranian Foreign Ministry Describes US Sanctions Against Tehran as Crime Against Humanity

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Iran condemns Washington's intention to impose new sanctions against Tehran and considers such actions as a crime against humanity, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Tuesday.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden said that Washington this week would introduce new sanctions against Iranian officials whom it considers involved in violence against participants in the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini.

"It would have been better if Joe Biden, before making humanitarian gestures, would have thought about the human rights record of his own country, though hypocrisy needs no thinking. It would have been better for the US president to be concerned about the numerous – and as acknowledged by the US government, unprecedented and paralyzing – sanctions against the Iranian nation, as their implementation against any nation is a clear example of crimes against humanity," Kanaani said on social media.

A wave of mass protests swept across Iran following Amini's death. The woman was detained by Iran's controversial morality police in Tehran for wearing an "improper" hijab, an offense punishable by prison, on September 13. She was sent to one of the centers belonging to the police department and military intelligence for an explanatory conversation, where she had a heart attack. On September 16, Amini passed away.

Many Iranian citizens have accused the morality police of Amini's death, suggesting that law enforcement officers hit her in the head. Iranian women have started publishing videos on social media that show them cutting their hair, burning hijabs and rusari kerchiefs, which they are obliged to wear on their heads.