SYDNEY, December 10. /TASS/. The Australian government has imposed sanctions on seven Russians as well as on some Iranian individuals and entities, which it believes are involved in human rights violations, according to the statement published on the Australian Foreign Ministry’s website on Saturday.

In addition, several more Iranian citizens and organizations are sanctioned over the allegations, which have been repeatedly dismissed by Moscow and Tehran, about alleged supplies of Iranian drones to Russia.

"The Australian Government is imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions on 13 individuals and two entities involved in egregious human rights violations and abuses. Among them are Iran’s Morality Police, the Basij Resistance Force and six Iranian individuals, involved in the violent crackdown on protests following the death of Mahsa ‘Jina’ Amini and the continued oppression of the people of Iran," Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in her statement.

The minister pointed out that sanctions would also be imposed against seven Russians, who, as Australia claims, "are involved in the attempted assassination" of blogger Alexey Navalny. He was rushed to a local hospital in the Russian Siberian city of Omsk on August 20, 2020, after collapsing on a Moscow-bound flight from Tomsk. Moscow pointed out that no poisonous substances had been detected in Navalny’s system prior to his transfer to Berlin, where he was taken to the Charite hospital.

Additionally, Wong said that targeted financial sanctions would be imposed on three Iranian individuals and one business involved, in Canberra’s version, in alleged supplies of drones to Russia. Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly refuted the allegations that Iranian-made drones are imported into Russia for their use in Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed such claims as fake news. He emphasized that Russia was using only domestically produced drones.

Australia’s sanctions

In response to the Ukraine crisis, Australia has by now imposed sanctions on 850 Russian and Belarusian individuals, including the Presidents of the two countries - Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, as well as on a number of major Russian entities. It also banned exports of weapons and components, raw materials and equipment to extract oil and gas and limited imports of Russian energy, weapons and ammunition. Prior to that, Australia had imposed a package of sanctions on Russian nationals suspected of corruption-related crimes and those whom the Australian authorities deem involved in the death of lawyer Sergey Magnitsky.

On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country. In retaliation, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and several other countries imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and legal entities.