The British government on Monday froze assets and banned travel for nine people and three organizations it accuses of carrying out hostile acts on behalf of Iran, with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper saying the moves directly target groups “who threaten security on U.K. streets and stability in the Middle East.”
Cooper warned that “criminal proxies backed by parts of the Iranian regime who threaten security in the U.K. and Europe will not be tolerated, nor will illicit finance networks.” She said the sanctions, which prohibit the designated individuals and organizations from travel to the UK, are a direct response to threats against British streets and Middle Eastern stability.
The Zindashti Network was sanctioned for what the Foreign Office described as involvement with an Iran-backed armed group that threatened, planned or attacked people in the U.K. The U.S. government designated the network two years ago, saying it was run by a narcotics trafficker acting on orders from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security to assassinate and kidnap critics of Iran.
Five members of the Zarringhalam family were sanctioned for allegedly using funds to destabilize the U.K. and the Middle East. U.S. authorities last year sanctioned three brothers from the family — Mansour, Nasser and Fazlolah Zarringhalam — for allegedly operating a shadow banking network that laundered billions of dollars to evade sanctions on Iran’s petroleum exports and military.
Four other individuals — two Iranians, a Turkish national and an Azerbaijani national — were also sanctioned for allegedly threatening, planning or carrying out attacks, though the British announcement did not provide details of any specific plots.
Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence says law enforcement has thwarted more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots in the U.K. since January 2022. An Iranian proxy group has recently taken credit for a string of suspected antisemitic attacks that included stabbings and attempted fire bombings at synagogues.
The U.K. government has now sanctioned more than 550 Iranians and organizations, repeatedly accusing the country of plotting killings and other attacks on British soil.