By Sam Tabahriti and Catarina Demony
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain imposed sanctions on one individual and four entities on Thursday under its Iran sanctions regime, saying they are part of a network that supports Tehran’s overseas activities, including “destabilisation” in Ukraine and Israel.
The sanctions include an asset freeze on Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, and on four companies operating in the shipping, petrochemical and financial sectors, the foreign office said in a statement.
Britain said Tehran relies on revenues from such trading networks to fund its “destabilising activities”, including support for proxy groups and threats on UK soil.
“Today, the UK is announcing sanctions against those who operate on behalf of Iran, fuelling its attempts to undermine stability in the Middle East and global security,” Minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer, said.
The Iranian embassy in London did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the new sanctions.
The United States, which sanctioned Shamkhani last month, said he controls a vast network of container ships and tankers through a complex web of intermediaries that sell Iranian and Russian oil and other goods throughout the world.
Some of the companies sanctioned by Britain on Wednesday were cited for acting on behalf of or at the direction of Shamkhani, who is accused of aiding Iran’s overseas operations. Shamkhani was also sanctioned by the European Union in July.
British lawmakers warned last month that Iran posed a growing and multifaceted threat to Britain, and while it does not yet rival the scale of challenges posed by Russia or China, they said the government was ill prepared to confront it.
They said the Iranian threat spanned physical attacks and potential assassinations targeting dissidents and Jewish communities, as well as espionage, offensive cyber operations, and efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has rejected these claims, calling them “unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations”.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti and Catarina Demony; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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