LONDON: Britain on Thursday slapped sanctions on three Iranian military figures and a defense manufacturer for supplying Russia with drones to attack civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine.
Senior Iranian military officers Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Seyed Hojjatollah Qureishi and Saeed AgHajjani will be subject to an asset freeze and travel ban, Britain’s foreign office said in a statement.
The three individuals were “personally responsible” for providing the drones used in strikes in Ukraine, it added.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that “Iran’s support for Putin’s brutal and illegal war against Ukraine is deplorable.”
“Today we are sanctioning those who have supplied the drones used by Russia to target Ukrainian civilians.
“This is clear evidence of Iran’s destabilising role in global security,” he said, after the EU earlier Thursday imposed sanctions on the same arms firm and individuals.
Russia has launched dozens of “kamikaze” drones on Ukraine on hitting energy infrastructure and killing five people in the capital of Kyiv. Ukraine says they are Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones.
Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow and the Kremlin on Tuesday denied its forces had used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine. Washington says Iran’s denial is a lie.
Britain will subject Shahed Aviation Industries, the Iranian manufacturer of the Shahed drones, to an asset freeze, the foreign office said.
The White House said Thursday that the US has evidence that Iranian troops are “directly engaged on the ground” in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian population.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Iran has sent a “relatively small number” of personnel to Crimea, a part of Ukraine unilaterally annexed by Russia in contravention of international law in 2014, to assist Russian troops in launching Iranian-made drones against Ukraine.
“The information we have is that the Iranians have put trainers and tech support in Crimea, but it’s the Russians who are doing the piloting,” Kirby said.
The US first revealed this summer that Russia was purchasing Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles to launch against Ukraine. Iran has denied selling its munitions to Russia.
(With Reuters, AP and AFP)
