Hossein Shamkhani, the son of a close aide to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was hit with UK sanctions on Thursday.
The British government sanctioned Mr Shamkhani, along with holding companies Admiral Shipping Group and Milavous Group, plus hedge fund Ocean Leonid Investments.
He is the son of Ali Shamkhani, a former senior security official who was injured in the Israeli bombing campaign on Iran in June.
“[Hossein] Shamkhani has facilitated and provided support to hostile activity by the government of Iran, namely activity which is intended to cause the destabilisation of the United Kingdom or any other country including Israel and Ukraine,” an official statement on Thursday said.
The move follows recent enforcement actions by the US and the European Union to target the same network, which the Trump administration called the biggest sanctions escalation against Tehran in nearly a decade.
The Shamkhani network is believed to have emerged as a major player in the export of Russian and Iranian oil, and established a hedge fund to help manage the proceeds. The UK Financial Conduct Authority had licensed Ocean Leonid activities in the country until November.
Imposing its own sanctions this year, the US Treasury said: "The Shamkhani family further exploits their ill-gotten wealth to obtain access to benefits unavailable to everyday Iranians, including owning exclusive properties around the world and obtaining foreign passports in exchange for substantial financial investments."
