Tasnim – Iran’s Foreign Ministry is going to release the first list of individuals subject to sanctions for their connection with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), an American institution recently blacklisted by Tehran.

In a statement on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the ministry will soon release the first list of persons who would be blacklisted because of cooperation with the so-called Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The list of persons subject to the sanctions will be submitted to the Iranian Judiciary, he said.

“From the viewpoint of Iran, this foundation (FDD) is by no means deemed to be a think tank, rather an organization that is designing and encouraging ‘economic terrorism’ and the US government’s hostile measures against people of Iran in a daily manner under the guise of a think tank,” the spokesperson stated.

Denouncing the FDD as Washington’s hand in masterminding and implementing the bulk of hostile plots against the Iranian nation, Mousavi said, “The first list of the blacklisted persons includes people from different nationalities who play a key role in the foundation’s measures against the people of Iran.”

On August 24, the Foreign Ministry blacklisted the FDD and its CEO Mark Dubowitz under the "Law on Countering the Violation of Human Rights and Adventurous and Terrorist Activities of the United States in the Region" passed in 2017.

The ministry has imposed the sanction on the FDD for conscious and intentional involvement in designing, imposing and intensifying the impacts of economic terrorism against Iran, and for trying to harm the Iranian people’s security and vital interests through measures such as fabricating and spreading lies, encouraging, providing consultations, lobbying, and launching a smear campaign.