In another hostile act, the European Union has imposed new sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and entities over alleged human rights violations.
In a press release on Monday, the EU Council said it has decided to impose sanctions on five Iranian individuals and two entities, claiming that they have been responsible for human rights breaches in the country.
This is the EU's eighth package of sanctions against Iranian officials and entities since unrest broke out in the country last fall.
The new bans target the current commander of the Tehran Police Relief Unit of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) and also the spokesman of the Iranian Police, and the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace of Iran (SCC).
Furthermore, the council also blacklisted the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, a body responsible for managing the the elite force's investments.
The 27-nation bloc has so far applied restrictive measures to a total of 216 individuals and 37 entities. They consist of an asset freeze, a travel ban to the EU and a prohibition to make funds or economic resources available to those listed.
In retaliatory moves, Iran has also imposed sanctions on the EU and a number of European individuals and entities.
Tensions between Iran and the European Union have dramatically risen amid the European Parliament's push to designate the IRGC as a "terrorist organization."
Protests erupted in Iran last September after a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in hospital days after collapsing at a police station in Tehran.
What started as peaceful protests took a violent turn after rioters, steered by hostile foreign media, fatally attacked policemen and indulged in vandalism against public property in several cities.