U.S. Blacklists Eight Iranian Officials Over Suppression of Demonstrators.

WASHINGTON Opening a new front in its pressure campaign against Tehran, the Obama administration on Wednesday put eight Iranian officials on a blacklist for their role in the bloody suppression of anti-government activists after the disputed Iranian election last year. The United States, citing human-rights abuses for the first time as a basis for sanctions, will freeze foreign assets and deny visas to eight people, among them the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the minister of welfare and social security, and several intelligence officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]