UK announces ‘full and further sanctions’ amid Iran killings and arrests | Politics
Britain has announced it will impose “full and further sanctions” against Iran amid widespread protests that have resulted in hundreds of deaths and arrests.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs that the sanctions would target finance, energy, transport, software and other key sectors.
He also said the State Department summoned the Iranian ambassador over reports of the country’s response to protests against the regime.
His announcement came as Donald Trump called on Iranians to “keep protesting” and said “help is on the way.”
Previously, Trump angered China, Iran’s leading export partner, by announcing that he would impose a 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would “quickly” propose further sanctions against those responsible for the “repression” of demonstrations in Iran.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Cooper said: “The UK will bring forward legislation to implement broader sanctions and sectoral measures. The UK has already identified key players in Iran’s oil, energy, nuclear and financial systems.”
“Further measures will target finance, energy, transport, software and other key sectors aimed at increasing Iran’s nuclear weapons, and we will work further with the EU and other partners to explore what additional measures may now be required in response to developments.”
He said he met Iran’s foreign minister on Monday and expressed Britain’s “utter abhorrence of the killings, violence and repression that we have seen”.
Cooper said Iran’s claims that protests within the country were caused by foreign influence and provocation were “lies and propaganda.”
“It is absolutely clear that the Iranian regime is trying to portray these protests as the result of external influence and provocation, just as they did in 2022,” he said.
“We and other governments around the world are determined not to play into the hands of the regime or allow our words or actions to be distorted to support their lies and propaganda…
“The world is watching Iran and the UK will continue to confront the regime’s lies, call out its repression and take the necessary steps to protect the UK’s interests.”
Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel questioned why Iran’s ambassador to the UK was not summoned sooner. He said: “Where is the government’s resolve to stand up to Iran, support the protesters, and work to end this regime’s tyranny? What message of hope and reassurance does the foreign minister offer to those who risk their lives on the streets of Iran every day, as Iranian citizens sacrifice their lives in the fight for their own liberation?”
Earlier Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believed the Iranian government was “in its last days and weeks.” He added: “If a regime can keep itself in power through the use of force alone, then it is effectively the end of the game.”
