UK sanctions secret IRGC Quds Force unit arming Iran's proxies

The British government on Monday imposed fresh sanctions against three Iranian individuals as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force's Unit 700, which is said to be a critical conduit for arming Iran's regional proxies.

In June 2023, Israel's public broadcaster Kan exposed the IRGC Quds Force's Unit 700, a secret unit responsible for smuggling supplies and logistics, particularly military equipment, to Iran's proxies in Syria and Lebanon.

The UK Foreign Office on Monday introduced sanctions on the Unit 700, accusing it of involvement "in hostile activity by an armed group backed by the Government of Iran, namely through conduct which facilitates (or is intended to facilitate) or gives assistance to the planning or conducting of activity which is intended to cause the destabilization of the United Kingdom or any other country."

Gal Farsat, a former Quds Force official with significant ties in Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, is said to be running the Unit 700, according to Israel's public broadcaster.

The British sanctions also targeted three Iranian individual for their engagement in "hostile" activities that destabilized Britain, Israel, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

Hamid Fazeli, the former head of Iran's Space Organization and head of Unit 340 of the IRGC's Quds Force, is one of the three individuals sanctioned over his involvement in supporting armed groups intending to destabilize Israel.

Iran International reported in June that Fazeli directs the oversight of rocket launches by Harakat Al-Nujaba (HaN), a strategic and integral arm of the Quds Force, which carries out its military activities under the IRGC's supervision.

The UK also sanctioned Behnam Shahriyari over his alleged involvement in assisting the planning or conducting of activity intended to destabilize Israel, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

Shahriyari was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2011 for "acting for or on behalf of Liner Transport Kish (LTK), an IRGC-linked shipping company that was designated by Treasury in December 2010 for providing material support, including weapons, to Hezbollah on behalf of the IRGC."

Abdolfatah Ahvazian was also sanctioned by Britain for his involvement in “threatening, planning or conducting activity which is intended to cause the destabilization of the United Kingdom or any other country.”

Ahvazian, an advisor to IRGC Quds Force commander, "assumed a direct role in providing and coordinating IRGC material support to Hamas, including for the construction of the Hamas tunnel network in Gaza," according to the US-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI).

"Ahvazian has disclosed he had foreknowledge of Hamas preparations for the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel when, on November 23, he revealed the Palestinian terror group had 'prepared 8,000 people over the course of one year for this [Al-Aqsa Storm] operation,'" the UANI said in January.

In October 2023, MI5, the UK’s security service, warned that amid the war between Iran-backed Hamas and Israel, Tehran may be exploring new ways to threaten the security of Britain.

Despite a host of old and new sanctions against IRGC commanders, Britain has refused to designate IRGC as a terrorist organization.