In a statement released on Friday, Qassemi denounced the US move to add an Iranian organization and a judicial official to its sanctions list as “contrary to the indisputable principles of international law”.
“Such measures are repetitive and in line with certain political objectives of the US government,” he said, adding that the unilateral sanctions against individuals or entities of independent countries are in violation of “the indisputable principles of international law and human rights and it is illegitimate and illegal”.
“Due to its domestic and international record, the US government is not in a position to comment or take action on the human rights situation in other countries,” the spokesman noted.
The US Treasury Department announced new sanctions against some Iranian entities over alleged human rights abuses.
A Treasury Department statement said the sanctions were imposed on the Tehran Prisons Organization and Sohrab Soleimani in connection with serious human rights abuses in Iran.
The statement says the action reflects deep concern regarding human rights in Iran, according to AP.
The report said Soleimani is the younger brother of Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force who also advises Iraqi military forces in their fight against Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.
The Treasury Department alleges that the prison organization is responsible for, or complicit in, the detention of many prisoners of conscience and well-documented accounts of their mistreatment and abuse.
