Iran summons British chargé d’affaires over sanctions against three Quds Force members

September 4 () –

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the British chargé d’affaires in Tehran, hours after the British government imposed sanctions against three members of the Quds Force, a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, for allegedly carrying out activities aimed at “destabilising” several countries.

“Following the recent sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom against three Iranian individuals and one entity, the British chargé d’affaires in Tehran has been summoned to the Foreign Office on Tuesday 3 September,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Iranian government has conveyed to the diplomat its “strong condemnation” of this measure, considering it “contradictory” to the policies of commitment and cooperation of the new British cabinet.

Tehran has also said that the “biggest source of regional insecurity” is Israel, a country that is strengthened by the “broad political and military support” of several nations, including the United Kingdom, and the diplomat has said that he would convey this message to London.

The three individuals – identified as Hamid Fazeli, a Revolutionary Guard commander who has allegedly engaged in anti-Israel activities, Abolfata Anvazian and Behnam Shahriyari – have been added to the UK sanctions list alongside the Quds Force’s own Unit 700, whose assets have been completely frozen for their actions to destabilise the UK, Israel, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.