Tuesday, October 18, 2011
UK freezes assets of five for alleged Iranian plot
Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters that Britain was discussing action with its European Union partners and expected other nations to follow suit with sanctions.
Britain has frozen the assets of five men, including two key suspects in an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in the United States, matching sanctions taken by US authorities.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters that Britain was discussing action with its European Union partners and expected other nations to follow suit with sanctions.
The five targeted included Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized US citizen, who was arrested in September over the plot which Iran has dismissed as a fabricated "comedy show".
Gholam Shakuri, an Iranian who has been named by the US authorities as a co-plotter, was also included. He is a fugitive and believed to be in Iran.
"The US has designated under their sanctions legislation five individuals. As of today the UK will designate the same five individuals under the Terrorist Asset Freezing Act 2010," Hague told reporters.
"We are also discussing with our EU partners a wider action against these same five individuals," added Hague, on his arrival in Mauritania as part of a trip to north Africa.
"It relates to alleged terrorist activity and the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force."
"It stops them using UK banks and its financial system," Hague said. "We are the first country after the US to take this action and we expect to be followed by others."
The US Treasury imposed similar restrictions on the five last week, describing the four based in Iran as members of the Quds force, a secretive unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which the US alleges supports "terrorist activities abroad".
US officials have said they believe it likely that the head of Quds knew of the alleged plot to kill Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.
Britain also blacklisted Qasem Soleimani, who it said was a commander in the IRGC. The other two were named as Iranian national Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai, who it said lived in Iran.
US authorities said last week that Arbabsiar had paid a US undercover agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel hitman to assassinate the ambassador. They allege that around $100,000 was sent from a foreign bank outside Iran to the US account of the hired hitman.
The affair has escalated tensions between the United States and Iran, relations poisoned by decades of mutual suspicion and more recently Western concerns over Iran's nuclear programme.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters that Britain was discussing action with its European Union partners and expected other nations to follow suit with sanctions.
The five targeted included Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized US citizen, who was arrested in September over the plot which Iran has dismissed as a fabricated "comedy show".
Gholam Shakuri, an Iranian who has been named by the US authorities as a co-plotter, was also included. He is a fugitive and believed to be in Iran.
"The US has designated under their sanctions legislation five individuals. As of today the UK will designate the same five individuals under the Terrorist Asset Freezing Act 2010," Hague told reporters.
"We are also discussing with our EU partners a wider action against these same five individuals," added Hague, on his arrival in Mauritania as part of a trip to north Africa.
"It relates to alleged terrorist activity and the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force."
"It stops them using UK banks and its financial system," Hague said. "We are the first country after the US to take this action and we expect to be followed by others."
The US Treasury imposed similar restrictions on the five last week, describing the four based in Iran as members of the Quds force, a secretive unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which the US alleges supports "terrorist activities abroad".
US officials have said they believe it likely that the head of Quds knew of the alleged plot to kill Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.
Britain also blacklisted Qasem Soleimani, who it said was a commander in the IRGC. The other two were named as Iranian national Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai, who it said lived in Iran.
US authorities said last week that Arbabsiar had paid a US undercover agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel hitman to assassinate the ambassador. They allege that around $100,000 was sent from a foreign bank outside Iran to the US account of the hired hitman.
The affair has escalated tensions between the United States and Iran, relations poisoned by decades of mutual suspicion and more recently Western concerns over Iran's nuclear programme.
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Iran to examine 'seriously and patiently' US plot allegations
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