Rouhani, Hassan

Former president of Iran (2013–21). Under Rouhani, the government continued to systematically violate the human rights of Iranians. The regime repeatedly and violently cracked down on protesters, including during the 2017 demonstrations against the Rouhani government's economic policies (killing about two dozen people) and the 2019 gas protests (killing an estimated 1,500). Rouhani warned protesters, "The nation will themselves respond to the rioters and lawbreakers… Our nation will deal with this minority who chant slogans against the law and people’s wishes, and insult the sanctities and values of the revolution.” 

Rouhani has also praised the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and appointed human rights abusers to his cabinet. Rouhani named Alireza Avaee as justice minister. Prior to Avaee's appointment, the EU had sanctioned him for abuses during his tenure as head of Tehran’s judiciary, alleging “he has been responsible for human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, denials of prisoners’ rights and increase of executions.” Avaee also is alleged by eyewitness accounts to have ordered the massacre of political prisoners, including juveniles, in Khuzestan province in 1988. Rouhani also appointed Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi as minister of telecommunications. The U.S. sanctioned Jahromi in 2019 for "his role in the Iranian regime’s widescale internet censorship," saying, "Azari Jahromi... has advanced the Iranian regime’s policy of repressive internet censorship since he took office in mid-2017 and has also been involved in surveillance against opposition activists... A former member of Iran’s intelligence apparatus, Azari Jahromi was involved in surveillance operations during the state crackdown on peaceful protests in 2009, which significantly aided the authorities’ ability to identify, track, arrest, and imprison protesters."