UK imposes sanctions on Iranian banker accused of giving financial support to Revolutionary Guard
EXCLUSIVE: Sanction targets Aliakbar Ansari for his role in financially supporting the activities of the IRGC
The UK government has imposed sanctions on an Iranian national, accusing him of providing financial and other support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Foreign Office said there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” that Aliakbar Ansari had supplied economic resources to the IRGC, which has engaged in activities aimed at destabilising the United Kingdom and other countries.
Minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, said: “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the most powerful military organisations in Iran, reporting directly to the Supreme Leader.
“Its use of repression and targeted threats to carry out hostile acts, including here in the UK, is completely unacceptable. We will continue to take action to call out and tackle such behaviour.
“Today, we are announcing sanctions against a corrupt Iranian banker and businessman, Aliakbar Ansari, for his role in financially supporting the activities of the IRGC.
“This designation sends a clear message – we will not tolerate threats from the IRGC and will not hesitate to take the most effective measures against them.”
Ansari,57, was born in Qazvin, Iran, and holds multiple passports, including from Iran, St Kitts and Nevis, and Cyprus, according to the official sanctions list.
Sanctions mean the UK government has subjected him to an asset freeze, director disqualification and travel ban.
Successive governments have pledged to proscribe the IRGC, over its role in funding and promoting attacks on Israeli and Jews across the globe.
Earlier this year the government’s independent reviewer of terror legislation recommended new legislation was needed to combat foreign actors who exploit “freedom and openness” in the UK to sow division.
Former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, now Foreign Secretary, said new laws would be introduced into parliament at the earliest opportunity.
To date, the UK has sanctioned more than 500 individuals and entities under the Iran and Iran (Nuclear) regimes.
A transnational terror network run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force is behind a string of recent attacks on Jewish sites in Western countries, the Mossad intelligence agency said last weekend.
According to Israel’s spy agency, senior IRGC-Quds Force commander Sardar Ammar heads the network, which intensified its efforts to attack Jewish and Israeli sites around the world since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel.
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