According to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the UK on 11 May 2026 imposed a new sanctions package on 12 Iranian-linked targets in response to what it described as hostile Iranian activity affecting UK and international security. The department said the designations answer both overseas threats and the use of criminal proxies acting on behalf of the Iranian state. (gov.uk) The government said the package is intended to disrupt illicit finance, deter attacks on dissidents overseas and restrict access to the UK and UK-held assets for those accused of financing or carrying out threats in Europe and the United States. It also said the measures are aligned with action taken by the European Union. (gov.uk)
Three entities were designated: Berelian Exchange, GCM Exchange and the Zindashti Network. The May 2026 notice also named nine individuals. Mansour Zarringhalam, Nasser Zarringhalam, Ekrem Abdulkerym Oztunc, Nihat Abdul Kadir Asan, Reza Hamidiravari and Namiq Salifov were made subject to a travel ban as well as an asset freeze and director disqualification. Fazlolah Zarringhalam, Pouria Zarringhalam and Farhad Zarringhalam were designated for an asset freeze and director disqualification. (gov.uk) For policy and compliance teams, that distinction matters because it separates immigration restrictions from financial and corporate restrictions. The legal effect is not identical across all 12 designations, even though each target is now subject to at least an asset freeze and director disqualification. (gov.uk)
GOV.UK defines an asset freeze as a ban on any UK person or UK business dealing with funds or economic resources owned, held or controlled by a designated person, or making funds or economic resources available to them. In practice, that places immediate obligations on banks, payment firms, company service providers and any business that may hold or transfer assets linked to a listed person or entity. (gov.uk) The same notice states that director disqualification makes it an offence for a designated person to act as a director of a UK company, or a sufficiently connected foreign company, or to take part in its management, formation or promotion. Where a travel ban applies, leave to enter or remain in the UK must be refused under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971. (gov.uk)
In the government’s account, the sanctions are tied to wider regional security concerns rather than a single incident. The FCDO said the measures target finance flows that enable destabilising action across the Middle East, and it referred specifically to the Strait of Hormuz and military strikes against regional and Gulf allies. (gov.uk) Yvette Cooper said the package was directed at organisations and individuals who threaten security in the UK and stability in the Middle East, while also stating that the UK continues to press for a negotiated settlement and a long-term diplomatic solution that restores freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. In policy terms, the announcement presents sanctions as pressure running alongside diplomacy, not in place of it. (gov.uk)
The May package also sits within a broader domestic response to state-linked threats. The same government statement said the Prime Minister wants Home Office state-threats legislation to be fast-tracked, and noted that the Minister for the Middle East summoned the Iranian ambassador on 28 April 2026 for the third time that year. The government also said it had censured the Iranian embassy over social media comments it described as unacceptable and inflammatory. (gov.uk) Taken together, the announcement suggests the government is treating hostile state activity as both a foreign policy matter and an internal security issue. That matters for practitioners because sanctions, diplomatic signalling and future domestic powers are being advanced in parallel rather than as separate tracks. (gov.uk)
This is not the first Iran package of 2026. On 2 February 2026, the UK announced sanctions on 10 individuals and one organisation for their role in human rights violations against Iranian protesters, including senior ministers, police figures, judges and IRGC-linked individuals. The February release said those designations were made under the Iran Sanctions Regulations 2023. (gov.uk) Across the February and May announcements, the government has presented Iran policy as a mix of human rights sanctions, national security designations and pressure on financial networks. GOV.UK states that the UK has imposed more than 550 sanctions on Iranian individuals and organisations, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in its entirety and more than 90 sanctions responding to human rights violations. (gov.uk)
The 11 May 2026 Iran designations were announced on the same day as a separate UK sanctions package against Russia, which ministers described as part of a day of action against destabilising activity by Iran and Russia. That timing places the Iran measures within a broader hostile-state sanctions posture rather than an isolated foreign policy move. (gov.uk) The government added that the press release was accurate at publication and directed users to the UK Sanctions List for the current legal position. For compliance teams, the immediate task is to ensure screening, company governance checks and travel-related decision making reflect the designations published on 11 May 2026 and any later amendments. (gov.uk)