Britain on Monday slapped sanctions on a dozen Iran-linked individuals and entities accused of involvement in "hostile activities" by Tehran targeting the UK or other countries.
Updating its official sanctions list, the Foreign Office in London imposed the UK travel bans and asset freezes on nine people, two shadow banking exchange houses and the allegedly criminal Zindashti network.
The UK government had already sanctioned its alleged leader, Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti, in 2024 alongside the United States, labelling him the head of international drug and trafficking cartel.
The European Union sanctioned his network last year, with London, Washington and Brussels all claiming it is connected to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security and accusing it of conducting assassination and kidnapping operations against Tehran's critics.
The latest UK curbs follow a string of attacks over recent months against the Jewish community in Britain, and repeated warnings from officials that hostile states are intent on using proxies for such purposes.
Zindashti's nephew, Turkish national Ekrem Abdulkerym Oztunc, was among the nine people sanctioned Monday by Britain.
London also targeted five members of the Zarringhalam family -- Farhad, Fazlolah, Mansour, Nasser and Pouria -- said to have helped finance efforts to "destabilize" the UK.
Mansour, Nasser and Fazlolah Zarringhalam were sanctioned by the US last year for their involvement in Iran's "shadow banking" network.
The US Treasury said the trio had "collectively laundered billions of dollars" for Iran through a network of front companies in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.
London also added Berelian Exchange and GCM Exchange, two US-sanctioned Iran-based exchange houses linked to them, to its sanctions list.
Iranians Nihat Abdul Kadir Asan and Reza Hamidiravari, and Azerbaijani national Namiq Salifov, were the other three individuals hit with the British travel bans and asset freezes.
