British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced a new package of sanctions against the Islamic Republic on Thursday July 6. These are aimed at countering the mullah regime’s attempts to silence dissent, including in the diaspora.
Britain on Thursday announced plans for a tougher sanctions regime against Iran over alleged human rights violations and hostile actions against its opponents on UK soil.
The new sanctions regime will expand existing penalties imposed by creating new criteria under which individuals and entities can be hit.
They include any Iranian activities “undermining peace, stability and security in the Middle East and internationally”, and the “use and spread of weapons technologies from Iran”.
Russia has been accused of unleashing Iranian-made attack drones in Ukraine, while Tehran is a close strategic ally of Syria, and backs Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
London accuses Iran of stepping up efforts to kill or kidnap perceived enemies of its regime, including in the UK.
It says the Iranian intelligence services have developed close relationships with organised criminal gangs in Britain and across Europe to help target opponents.
Since the start of 2022, the UK has uncovered “more than 15 credible threats to kill or kidnap British or UK-based individuals by the Iranian regime”, it added.
The latest measures add to ones already taken over Tehran’s hardline response to protests that have rocked the Islamic republic since the September 2022 death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini.
The 22-year-old had been arrested for an alleged breach of strict dress rules for women.
– ‘Credible threats’ –
Demonstrations swept Iran after Amini’s death, with at least thousands arrested since then, according to the United Nations and rights groups.
Ten months on, Iran was still punishing those suspected of involvement in the mass protests, according to a UN fact-finding mission which reported its findings on Wednesday.
Since the start of the year, the UK has imposed dozens of asset freezes and travel bans, citing alleged human rights abuses, on Iranian individuals and organisations including leading Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and Tehran’s prosecutor general.
The United States and the European Union have also toughened their own sanctions.
On Thursday, the UK said it had sanctioned 13 more people, including prison governors overseeing torture and inhumane treatment, intelligence and cyber organisations under existing human rights sanctions powers.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
