On 12 October, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced sanctions on two Iranian nationals and confirmed that Iran's ambassador to the United Kingdom had been summoned. In a statement released by the department, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the government regarded Iran's use of criminal networks, proxy groups and state-backed hostile activity against the UK and international partners as unacceptable. He said the purpose of the summons was to restate that the UK would not tolerate threats on its soil. The move places the announcement in both a diplomatic and domestic security context, rather than treating it as a routine sanctions update.
The two men named by the FCDO are Ruhollah Bazghandi, described as head of counter-espionage operations within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Shahram Ali Reza Tamarzadeh Jakki, described as a facilitator of the Zindashti criminal network. The department said that network had been involved in several plots against Iranian dissidents. According to the government, both men were designated for facilitating or engaging in hostile activity on behalf of the Iranian regime, with the intent to threaten, plan or conduct attacks overseas. That wording matters because it ties the designations directly to alleged operational activity, rather than to general political association.
The sanctions take effect immediately and include an asset freeze. Under the government's published guidance, that prevents any UK citizen or UK business from dealing with funds or economic resources owned, held or controlled by either designated person. It also bars funds or economic resources from being made available to them, directly or indirectly. The territorial reach is wider than the UK mainland. The FCDO notes that UK financial sanctions apply within the UK's territory and territorial sea, and also to UK persons wherever they are in the world. In practice, that creates immediate compliance obligations for banks, payment firms, professional advisers and any company carrying out counterparty checks.
The second measure is a travel ban. The government's note says a designated person must be refused leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom because the individual becomes an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971. The third measure is director disqualification. Where that sanction applies, it becomes an offence for the designated person to act as a director of a UK company, or of a foreign company with a sufficient UK connection, or to take part in the management, formation or promotion of a company. The practical effect is to restrict access not only to travel and finance, but also to company structures that could be used to hold assets or conduct business.
The FCDO said the designations were made under the Iran Sanctions Regulations 2023. The government presented the action as part of a wider package already in place against Iran, including the use of the UK's state threats powers against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety. In the same note, ministers said the UK has now sanctioned more than 550 Iranian individuals and entities. That wider figure is intended to show that the two new designations are not a stand-alone response, but an addition to an existing enforcement framework covering security, financing and regime-linked activity.
The official background note also set out the threat picture cited by ministers. According to the government, the UK identified at least 15 credible Iranian-backed threats to kill or kidnap individuals in Britain between 2022 and 2023. By 2025, the government said that figure had risen to more than 20. The summons of Iran's ambassador was carried out by Middle East minister Stephen Doughty. The ambassador was told, according to the FCDO, that the UK would not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity by Iran and expected such behaviour to stop immediately.
For policy and compliance audiences, the significance of the announcement lies in the way several state tools have been used together. The government combined a diplomatic protest, targeted sanctions, immigration restrictions and company law restrictions in a single response to conduct it links to the Iranian regime. For the wider public, the announcement is a reminder that sanctions are not limited to trade policy or overseas conflict. In this case, the measures are being used as part of the UK's internal security posture, with direct consequences for entry to the country, access to the financial system and the ability to participate in corporate activity connected to the UK.