By The South Asia Times

CANBERRA – Australia has imposed further targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities in response to what the government called the regime’s “ongoing brutal oppression of its people and destabilisation of the region.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced the measures on Tuesday, accusing Tehran of massacring thousands of its own citizens in January, carrying out mass arrests of peaceful protesters, torturing detainees, subjecting them to forced confessions, and preventing them from communicating with loved ones.

“The regime limited internet access to stop the world from learning of these atrocities,” Wong said in a statement.

The seven individuals and four entities sanctioned include senior officials involved in violence against women and children, according to the foreign minister.

One of the individuals sanctioned is responsible for directing the oppression of women and girls in Iran by deploying 80,000 forces to conduct surveillance and enforce mandatory hijab wearing, Wong said.

Another individual established neighborhood intelligence databases, using door-to-door data collection and patrols to find and punish opponents of the Iranian regime. Others sanctioned have been responsible for the wrongful detention of foreign nationals.

The sanctions also target Iran’s shadow banking system, which Australia says allows Tehran to fund terrorist proxies such as Hamas, support its ballistic missile program, and carry out other destabilizing actions.

The announcement was made alongside fresh sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom, continuing what Wong described as coordinated work with international partners to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its “egregious campaign of oppression and destabilisation.”

The Albanese government has now taken stronger action on Iran than any previous Australian administration, with more than 230 new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities, Wong said.

This includes more than 100 individuals and entities with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Australia has listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.

“Australia continues to stand with the brave people of Iran against a brutal, oppressive regime,” Wong said.

There was no immediate reaction from Iran over Australia’s latest accusations and sanctions. Iranian officials have previously denied Western allegations of human rights abuses, insisting that protests are dealt with according to Iranian law and that foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs is unacceptable.