WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on five Iranian officials it accused of being behind the crackdown on protests and warned it was tracking Iranian leaders' funds being wired to banks around the world, as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration increases pressure on Tehran.
The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on the Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security as well as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and law enforcement forces commanders, accusing them of being architects of the crackdown.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a video on Thursday said Washington's message to Iran's leaders was clear: "U.S. Treasury knows, that like rats on a sinking ship, you are frantically wiring funds stolen from Iranian families to banks and financial institutions around the world. Rest assured, we will track them and you."
"But there's still time, if you choose to join us. As President Trump has said, stop the violence and stand with the people of Iran."
The unrest in Iran started with protests over soaring prices before turning into one of the biggest challenges to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The U.S.-based HRANA rights group says it has so far verified the deaths of 2,435 protesters and 153 government-affiliated individuals.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene on behalf of protesters in Iran, where the clerical establishment has cracked down hard on nationwide unrest since December 28.
"The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice," Bessent said in the statement.
"Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights."
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 18 people it accused of involvement in laundering the proceeds of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales to foreign markets as part of "shadow banking" networks of sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.
Thursday's action is the latest move targeting Tehran since Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero and help prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Doina Chiacu ; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
