US sanctions top aides to Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei, including his son

The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on November 4 on the top aides of Iran's supreme leader  Ayatollah Khamanei commemorating the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran. It included nine people close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his chief of staff, one of his sons and the head of the judiciary. Amid the growing tensions between the US and Iran, the Treasury Department also sanctioned Hossein Dehghan, one of Khamenei's military aides who served as a commander in Lebanon during the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that took lives, 241 service members.

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Sanctions imposed on people close to supreme leader

The tensions escalated as more than 50 Americans were held hostage at the embassy for 444 days. The tensions sparked last year after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran Nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions to hamper its oil exports and isolate the economy. Apart from the sanctions, Trump has tried and showed a willingness to meet Iran's top leaders. The US state department announced a new reward of up to $20 million for information about a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran 12 years ago. State Secretary Mike Pompeo said that the Trump administration has made it very clear that Iran must release all the missing and wrongfully detained Americans. A US administration official said that the sanctions are imposed to control Khamenei's inner circle. The official said that the sanction is aimed to target the financial assets of the supreme leader's inner circle which includes both military and foreign affairs advisors.

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US sanctions block US entities 

The US sanctions block US-controlled property and interests held by those targeted and forbid the entities in the US dealing with those sanctioned. The people targeted by the US sanctions include Khamenei's chief of staff Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani as well as Vahid Haghanian who has been referred to as Supreme Leader's right hand, according to the department. The Treasury Department said Ebrahim Raisi who was appointed by Khameini in March 2019 to lead Iran's judiciary, and Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei's second son, were also sanctioned. The Iranian diplomat to the UN did not comment on anything to a request.

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