'Iran is threat to security...sanctions over threat to kill on British soil

BRITAIN has imposed sanctions against Iranian officials accused of being behind a threat to kill on UK soil.

- By Martyn Brown

Two men were hit with asset freezes, as was a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds unit that has allegedly targeted people in Britain.

Four other Iran-linked individuals, including two Turkish nationals, were also hit with sanctions after being accused of killing an Iranian dissident in Istanbul.

An Iranian that the Foreign Office said was the head of an international drug and trafficking cartel was also targeted for allegedly planning or conducting overseas attacks.

The sanctions package, coordinated with the US, comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.

Britain and the White House have blamed Iran-linked militias for being behind a fatal drone strike on a US base that killed three US soldiers.

Gangs

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: "The Iranian regime and the criminal gangs who operate on its behalf pose an unacceptable threat to the UK's security.

"Today's package exposes the roles of the Iranian officials and gangs involved in activity aimed to undermine, silence and disrupt the democratic freedoms we value in the UK.