Australia has sanctioned human rights abusers in Iran, including state police and media.
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The sanctions come on the eve of the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by Iran's so-called morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.
Those sanctioned include the spokesperson for the Law Enforcement Forces, involved in cracking down on women who defy the nation's veiling laws, and the head of the nation's cyber police who censored widespread protests.
Two Iran Broadcasting reporters have also been sanctioned as have a web-hosting service and a satellite channel sponsored by Iranian state media.
The 22-year-old Ms Amini's death sparked outrage against the brutal autocratic regime when she was killed in September 2022.
The regime then drew further condemnation for torturing and executing protesters.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia stood in solidarity with the people in Iran and the new sanctions would target those who oppress women and girls.
"While the protests may have subsided, the suffering has not," she told parliament on Wednesday.
"Women and girls in Iran still face systemic persecution, sexist discrimination continues to be entrenched in Iranian law and in practice."
Senator Wong said Tehran needed to prosecute those responsible for Ms Amini's death instead of clinging to claims she died of natural causes.
She said the authoritarian government's push to strengthen hijab and chastity laws that would punish women for violating modesty laws "are just some of the reminders of the entrenched discrimination that has such profound impacts on Iranian women".
Liberal senator Claire Chandler criticised the government for moving too slowly and not listening to the calls from Australia's Iranian community.
The Iranian community backed the findings of a Senate committee looking into human rights abuses and violence in their home nation.
It recommended the government expel any Iranian official in Australia involved in the intimidation, threats, or monitoring of the diaspora.
"How can you not accept that recommendation when the government and the Australian public knows that intimidation and harassment of Australians is occurring and has even been publicly attributed to the Iranian regime?" Senator Chandler said.
She also questioned why it had taken the government seven months to officially respond to the committee report "which was undertaken urgently to respond to a crisis situation".
Of the 12 recommendations, the government accepted two, partly accepted a third, noted seven and rejected two.
It noted the call to expel those caught surveilling Iranian-Australians and rejected the recommendation to officially list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
The government said it did not have the power to list the corps under national security legislation.
It also noted the call to minimise diplomatic relations with Iran to "the greatest possible extent", saying Australia would continue to engage with Tehran "when it is in our interests to do so".
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has previously revealed that the government derailed a surveillance plot by Iranian officials against an Iranian-Australian.
She pledged to be more transparent about foreign interference operations on Australian soil but has not revealed anything further since her speech in February.
Australian Associated Press
