Overview
- Britain designated the 56-year-old banker for financially enabling the IRGC’s activities, which officials link to hostile acts targeting the UK and other countries.
- The measures include an asset freeze, director disqualification and a UK travel ban under the Iran Sanctions Regulations 2023.
- Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer described Ansari as a corrupt Iranian banker and said the UK will take the most effective measures against the IRGC.
- Sanctions records state he was born in Ghazvin and holds passports from Cyprus, St Kitts and Nevis, and Iran.
- MI5 reported more than 20 potentially deadly Iran-linked plots last year, and police arrested seven Iranians in May in operations connected to an alleged imminent attack, fueling calls to consider further measures such as proscribing the IRGC.