The US has issued sanctions against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's deputy chief of staff and over 50 other Iranian government officials for alleged human rights abuses, while making it easier for Americans to export advanced communications equipment to Iranian civilians.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the US wants to help Iranians exercise freedom of expression. It accuses Iran of blocking Internet and communications access to silence dissent ahead of its June 14 presidential election.
Today's sanctions target an Iranian intelligence unit responsible for blocking information and Khamenei aide Asghar Mir-Hejazi.
Psaki says Mir-Hejazi facilitates violent crackdowns on Iranians.
She says almost 60 other officials involved in abuses are also on a US blacklist.
The Treasury Department, meanwhile, eased export restrictions on personal communications hardware and software to Iranian civilians.
