Iran said Friday that new U.S. sanctions imposed against the brother of the high-profile commander of the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm, Qassem Soleimani, were "illegal".
The U.S. Treasury added Sohrab Soleimani, along with the Tehran Prisons Organisation which he recently oversaw, to its list of individuals and entities facing sanctions Thursday for alleged human rights violations.
"The U.S. government with its failed domestic and international record is not in a position to comment or act on the human rights situation in other countries," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said.
Sohrab is the younger brother of Major General Qassem Soleimani, who oversees Iranian operations in Iraq and Syria and has been repeatedly pictured visiting Iranian-led forces in both countries.
The elder brother is already subject to U.S. sanctions.
Sohrab Soleimani was director general of the Tehran Prisons Organisation for 15 years, until he became a supervisor in the national prisons bureau in March 2016.
The new sanctions follow a recent string of arrests targeting Iranians who also hold Western passports.
Iran does not recognize dual nationality and they have been held without public trial on national security charges.
The U.S. Treasury said the Tehran Prisons Organisation oversees the notorious Evin Prison, where political prisoners have been subject to harsh interrogation, forced confessions, psychological and physical torture and denial of access to medical care.
Ghasemi said Washington had no right "to assess on its own the human rights situation in other countries and to make decisions for them."
