London has accused Iran of supporting Houthi militant attacks on shipping in the Red Sea but the British Chief of Defence said Britain did not think Tehran wanted a war …reports Asian Lite News
Britain said it had adopted a new sanctions regime against Iran on Thursday as it announced measures against seven individuals, including the head of Tehran’s Quds Force, for threatening or planning the destabilization of Israel.
The British government said the new regime, which it said gave it greater powers to act against Iran and its decision makers, had been brought in response to “unprecedented threats” from Tehran to peace in the Middle East and to plots to kill individuals in Britain.
“The behavior of the Iranian regime poses an unacceptable threat to the UK and our partners,” foreign minister David Cameron said in a statement.
“It continues to threaten people on UK soil and uses its influence to destabilize the Middle East through its support to armed groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).”
Those subject to travel bans and asset freezes under the new sanctions included Esmail Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, which is the arm of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that controls its allied militia from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria.
Also sanctioned were Mohammed Saeed Izadi, the head of IRGC-QF Palestine branch, and three other members from that branch: Ali Marshad Shirazi, Majid Zaree and Mostafa Majid Khani.
The entire branch itself is subject to asset freezes, the government said, while Hamas and PIJ representatives to Iran, Khaled Qaddoumi and Nasser Abu Sharif, respectively, also face travel bans and asset freezes.
London has accused Iran of supporting Houthi militant attacks on shipping in the Red Sea but the British Chief of the Defense Staff, Tony Radakin, said Britain did not think Tehran wanted a war in the Middle East.
“We assess Iran doesn’t want a direct war … But Iran is comfortable with the way events have unfolded, the dilemmas for Israel, the threat posed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis, militia groups exploiting this crisis to challenge America’s role in the region,” Radakin said in a speech on Wednesday.
The United States on Thursday also imposed sanctions on a Quds Force official, the Treasury Department said in a statement, accusing Majid Zaree of being involved in support to groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The action freezes any of the official’s US assets and generally bars Americans from dealing with him. Those that engage in certain transactions with him also risk being hit with sanctions.
“The United States continues to coordinate with our partners, including the United Kingdom, to tackle terrorist financing and threats from Iran,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in the statement.
“The behavior of the Iranian regime poses an unacceptable threat to the UK and our partners,” British foreign minister David Cameron said in a statement. “It continues to threaten people on UK soil and uses its influence to destabilize the Middle East through its support to armed groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
“Treasury applauds the United Kingdom’s new Iran sanctions authorities, which will be instrumental in taking action against Iranian support to Hamas and other regional proxy groups that fan conflict and contribute to widespread suffering,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said. “The United States continues to coordinate with our partners, including the United Kingdom, to tackle terrorist financing and threats from Iran.”
London has accused Iran of attempting to destabilize the Middle East through its support of groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen who recently launched missiles at vessels in the Red Sea.
However, the U.K. does not think Tehran is in support of a full-scale war in the Middle East.
“We assess Iran doesn’t want a direct war. … But Iran is comfortable with the way events have unfolded, the dilemmas for Israel, the threat posed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis, militia groups exploiting this crisis to challenge America’s role in the region,” British Chief of Defense Staff Tony Radakin said in a speech on Wednesday.
Iran condemns EU’s new sanctions
On Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has strongly condemned the new sanctions imposed by the European Council on Iranian individuals and entities based on the “unfounded claim of supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine”.
He made the remarks on Tuesday in a statement published on the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website, responding to the decision of the European Council on Monday to impose restrictive measures against “six persons and five entities involved in Iran’s development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles” used by Russia in the conflict with Ukraine.
Kanaani said the move aiming to achieve “specific political objectives” will fail and affect the ties between Tehran and Europe.
He reaffirmed Iran’s principled position of opposing the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the necessity to resolve the differences through peaceful ways.
The spokesman stressed that Iran reserved the right to respond to the EU sanctions.
Ukraine, as well as some Western countries, have accused Iran of exporting suicide drones to Russia for use in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
Iran has repeatedly rejected the accusations as “baseless,” saying it had only given “a limited number” of drones to Russia months before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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