NATIONAL NEWS
US sanctions Russia, Iran entities for detaining Americans
Apr 27, 2023, 2:06 PM
FILE - Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court, in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The Biden administration on Thursday, April 27, sanctioned Russia's Federal Security Service and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization for wrongfully detaining Americans. They noted that Thursday's actions were in the works well before the arrest of Gershkovich in Russia, whose imprisonment was swiftly deemed unjust by the U.S. government. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday sanctioned Russia’s Federal Security Service and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence organization for wrongfully detaining Americans.
It’s the first rollout of new sanctions authorities established last year by support for terrorist activity.
Senior administration officials declined to specify which detentions specifically underpinned the sanctions, saying they were a response to a pattern of actions by the two countries in unjustly holding Americans both currently and in the past. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the thinking behind the sanctions.
They noted that Thursday’s actions were in the works well before the arrest last month of American Paul Whelan with that designation in Russia.
In addition to targeting the two organizations, the administration is also adding additional sanctions on four IRGC leaders it alleges are involved in hostage taking efforts.
The senior administration officials said that relief from the sanctions could be used as an inducement in negotiations to try to secure the release of the Americans held overseas.
Biden last year issued an executive order relying on a section of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act — named after a retired FBI agent who vanished in Iran 15 years ago and is now presumed dead — that authorizes the president to impose sanctions, including visa revocations, on people believed to be involved in the wrongful detention of Americans.
The announcement comes ahead of the annual dinner of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation next week, an event expected to include as guests multiple former hostages and detainees as well as advocates for that population. In addition, there is a candlelight vigil planned for next week and a press conference scheduled outside the White House to raise the plight of those detained.
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AP writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
