Australian travel bans and asset freezes will apply to 16 people and one entity linked to “serious abuses of human rights in Iran”, including the commander-in-chief of the army, Sayyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, and senior figures in the Basij Resistance Force.
The move pre-empts the scheduled release on Wednesday of a parliamentary inquiry report about human rights in Iran, which was likely to increase pressure on the Australian government to take a tougher stand.