Anti-hijab protest crackdown: US, Canada announce imposing 'further costs' on Iran

The United States will impose “further costs” on the Iranian officials responsible for violence during the anti-government protests in the middle eastern country following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, President Joe Biden said on Monday according to Reuters.

The 22-year-old Amini was arrested by the Iranian morality police for breaching the hijab law of the country and within a few hours, she died after sustaining serious injuries.

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In the official statement, Biden said he was "gravely concerned about reports of the intensifying violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in Iran" and promised to come up with a swift response.

"This week, the United States will be imposing further costs on perpetrators of violence against peaceful protesters. We will continue holding Iranian officials accountable and supporting the rights of Iranians to protest freely," Biden said during the official briefing.

"The United States stands with Iranian women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery," he added while speaking about the role in the military in quashing the protests.

As per Reuters, on Monday,Canada also announcedthat it will be imposing fresh sanctions on the nation for alleged human rights violations including the death of Amini.

The fresh impositions add on to existing sanctions and include in the list 25 individuals and nine entities. These include officials from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the ministry of intelligence and security.

In a statement, the Canadian government said: "These sanctions are in response to gross human rights violations that have been committed in Iran, including its systematic persecution of women and in particular, the egregious actions committed by Iran's so-called 'Morality Police,' which led to the death of Mahsa Amini while under their custody."

Watch |US, Canada imposes fresh sanctions against Iran citing death of Mahsa Amini

After Amini’s death, protests were held all around Iran with a number of women showing their dissent by taking off their hijabs and cutting their hair. According to official data, 130 people have been killed in the protests till now after the Iranian army intervened in the past few days.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that the students in Iran are "rightly enraged" and these are the reasons why young people in Iran leave the country in large numbers.

(With inputs from agencies)