Britain moved on Thursday to widen sanctions against Iran over what it called “credible threats” by the regime to kill or kidnap enemies in the UK.
Ministers are seeking new powers to impose sanctions on Iranians accused of hostile actions, undermining democracy, distributing weapons or obstructing Middle East peace.
The broad scope of the bill could also allow Britain to prolong sanctions linked to Iran's ballistic missile programme, which were due to expire under the all-but-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.
The UK on Thursday sanctioned another 13 Iranian officials and organisations under existing laws, which allow for penalties on certain grounds such as human rights abuses or ties to the war in Ukraine.
But the bill to expand the list of criteria is expected to be put before the UK Parliament before the end of the year in what Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called a response to "the escalation of Iran's reprehensible behaviour".
The language on weapons and regional peace "leaves open the possibility that the UK is preparing the groundwork for the expiration of the UN missile restrictions on Iran in October", Jason Brodsky, policy director of the think tank United Against Nuclear Iran, told The National.
"This broader regime provides more tools and a more expansive reach to target this kind of missile proliferation and the development of Iran's security establishment."
Diplomats from Britain, Germany and France have been holding talks on what to do when the missile sanctions expire in October.
Prolonging them would be seen as a further blow to the 2015 deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Iran has openly flouted the pact by enriching and stockpiling uranium far beyond agreed limits.
Britain was also expected on Thursday to condemn Iran's military activities at the UN. Diplomats in New York plan to denounce Tehran’s “malign behaviour” in the presence of an Iranian representative.
Mr Cleverly told the House of Commons he would prefer never to use the "new and enhanced" sanctioning powers.
"But the decision on whether I do so, or whether I do not, is firmly in the hands of the Iranian regime itself," he said.
He told MPs the Iranian regime "has dramatically increased its attempts to silence dissent".
"While our police, intelligence and security agencies have been confronting these threats for many years, their seriousness and intensity has increased in recent months," he said.
"There is clear evidence that the Iranian regime continues to prepare operations against individuals in Europe and beyond."
The Foreign Office said there were more than 15 “credible threats to kill or kidnap British or UK-based individuals by the Iranian regime” since the start of last year.
In one case, the TV channel Iran International was forced to leave its London offices after counter-terrorism police were alerted to threats against personnel.
The UK government fears Iran’s intelligence services have formed ties to organised criminal gangs to expand their reach in the UK and Europe.
The new criteria would lead to people being sanctioned if they are linked to Iran’s “activities undermining peace, stability and security in the Middle East and internationally” or the “use and spread of weapons or weapons technologies” from the country.
People could also be sanctioned if they are found to be connected to the regime's “undermining of democracy, respect for the rule of law and good governance” or other “hostile activities towards the UK and our partners emanating from the Iranian regime, including threats to our people, property or security”.
Mr Brodsky called the new measures a hardening of the UK's position towards Iran that could see sanctions against Iran's intelligence apparatus.
"This is a recognition of the need for the UK government to ramp up its response to Iran's malign activity that's endangering not only international peace and security, but also UK nationals, very acutely," he said.
The 13 new sanctions listings include officials from Iran's prison system and an online surveillance unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Also targeted was the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution that sets morality rules in Iran.
The opposition Labour Party said it supported the new measures.
The UK plans to use its presidency of the UN Security Council, which it has taken up for the month of July, to lead global condemnation of what it calls Iran’s weapons proliferation.
Britain says it has handed “extensive evidence” to council members of Iran’s military assistance to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and western powers after the US withdrew in 2018 have hit an impasse as Tehran steps up its enrichment activities.
Relations have soured since Iran was accused of aiding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tehran has admitted to supplying Moscow with drones but said it happened before the war started.
Evidence linking Iran to the Houthis included a drone seized on its way to Yemen which had flight logs showing it had been tested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Western powers have strongly criticised Tehran over a crackdown on domestic protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police last year. Iran has also been accused of taking British and European citizens hostage to use as political bargaining chips.
