WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a major Iranian foundation and the country's intelligence minister as part of its maximum pressure campaign.

In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it took action against a key patronage network for the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Islamic Revolution Mostazafan Foundation (Bonyad Mostazafan, or the Foundation), an immense conglomerate of some 160 holdings in key sectors of Iran’s economy, including finance, energy, construction, and mining.

"While the Foundation is ostensibly a charitable organization charged with providing benefits to the poor and oppressed, its holdings are expropriated from the Iranian people and are used by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to enrich his office, reward his political allies, and persecute the regime’s enemies."

"OFAC is also designating Iran’s Minister of Intelligence and Security, Mahmoud Alavi, pursuant to human rights authorities. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) has played a central role in the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses against Iranian citizens, including during the November 2019 protests," the statement added.

US State Department also sanctioned IRGC Brigadier General Heidar Abbaszadeh and IRGC Colonel Reza Papi for their gross violations of human rights, namely the flagrant denial of the right to life. Abbaszadeh and Papi were involved in the killing of nearly 150 individuals in the city of Mahshahr as part of the Iranian regime’s crackdown on the November 2019 protests.

Commenting on fresh punitive measures, US Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said: “Iran’s Supreme Leader uses Bonyad Mostazafan to reward his allies under the pretense of charity."

“The United States will continue to target key officials and revenue-generating sources that enable the regime’s ongoing repression of its own people.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an indirect response, vowed to keep imposing "painful consequences."

"The Iranian regime seeks a repeat of the failed experiment that lifted sanctions and shipped them huge amounts of cash in exchange for modest nuclear limitations," he said in a statement.

"This is indeed troubling, but even more disturbing is the notion that the United States should fall victim to this nuclear extortion and abandon our sanctions."

"The Maximum Pressure campaign against the Iranian regime continues to be effective. It deprives the regime of funds to carry out its malign activities. Reducing that pressure is a dangerous choice, bound to weaken new regional partnerships for peace and strengthen the regime," Pompeo said in a tweet.

"A year ago, Iran’s regime massacred as many as 148 Iranians in Mahshahr. Today, I designated Heidar Abbaszadeh and Reza Papi for their role in gross human rights violations by Iranian security forces as well as other agents of regime oppression. We will never forget their crimes," the US secretary of state added.