The repressive Iranian regime is continuing a campaign to isolate its people from the free world by shutting down the internet. In an effort to pressure the regime to stop its suppressive behavior, the Trump administration announced it will sanction Mohammad Jarhromi, Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology.

The U.S. is sanctioning the Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Mohammad Jahromi, for helping shut down the Iranian internet. We will hold members of the Iranian regime accountable for their violent repression of the Iranian people. #Internet4Iran — Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 22, 2019

“The U.S. is sanctioning the Minister of information and Communications Technology, Mohammad Jahromi, for helping shut down the Iranian internet. We will hold members of the Iranian regime accountable for their violent repression of the Iranian people. #Internet4Iran” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter Friday.

Tonight in #Tehran– Protesters remain on the streets blocking traffic #Iranprotests pic.twitter.com/mbvdI02NVJ — Lisa Daftari (@LisaDaftari) November 17, 2019

The pro-democracy protests have shed light on the regime’s crackdown on liberty. Videos circulating social media have given the world a glimpse into the regime’s intense backlash, but for the past five days they’ve gone dark. Although there is little information coming out of the country, many reports indicate that there have been hundreds of casualties.

“Iran’s leaders know that a free and open internet exposes their illegitimacy, so they seek to censor internet access to quell anti-regime protests,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement Friday.

“We are sanctioning Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology for restricting internet access, including to popular messaging applications that help tens of millions of Iranians stay connected to each other and the outside world.”