US places sanctions on senior Tehran official

The United States placed sanctions on Tehran province's public security chief Morteza Tamaddon today, saying he was involved in censorship and intimidation of protesters and opposition leaders.
As Tehran province governor-general during the 2009 elections, the US Treasury said Tamaddon used his authority to curtail freedom of expression and assembly.
It also called him "personally responsible" for harassment of anti-government figures Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
And during political protests in 2012, it said, he had mobile phone communications cut off and also used his powers "to silence and intimidate Iranian citizens... By publicly threatening political protestors," the Treasury said.

The sanctions freeze any assets he has in US jurisdictions and ban any Americans or US businesses from doing business with him.
In addition, the Treasury said, any foreign bank or person who handles transactions or provides support for Tamaddon could be kept out of the US financial system and have assets frozen as well.
The Treasury move came under a 2012 US executive order authorizing sanctions for actions in Iran that damage human rights, including freedom of expression and assembly.