PRESS RELEASE : UK sanctions top Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps financiers [March 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 20 March 2023.

The UK has sanctioned five members of the Board of Directors of the IRGC Co-operative Foundation, the organisation which funnels money into the regime’s repression.

• UK sanctions financiers within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and senior commanders.
• Those sanctioned include five members on the Board of Directors of the IRGC Co-operative Foundation, the body responsible for managing the IRGC’s investments.
• Two senior IRGC commanders operating in Tehran and Alborz provinces also sanctioned for gross human rights violations.

The UK has imposed sanctions on senior officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, it announced today.

The IRGC, the branch of the Iranian Armed Forces responsible for the internal and external security of Iran, has been at the forefront of the repression of protest in Iran which has seen more than 500 killed and tens of thousands imprisoned.

The UK has sanctions in place on the IRGC in its entirety. Since October, the UK has imposed new sanctions on more than a dozen senior IRGC officials under our Iran human rights regime, most recently on a number of senior commanders on 20 February.

As a result the UK has sanctioned five members of the Board of Directors of the IRGC Co-operative Foundation, an economic conglomerate established by senior IRGC officials to manage the group’s investments in the Iranian economy.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

Today we are taking action on the senior leaders within the IRGC who are responsible for funnelling money into the regime’s brutal repression.

Together with our partners around the world, we will continue to stand with the Iranian people as they call for fundamental change in Iran.

Established initially to support IRGC service members, the Foundation has broadened out its remit to funding the IRGC’s repressive activities in Iran and abroad.

The Foundation is also responsible for funding militant groups associated with the IRGC’s external operations arm, the IRGC-Quds Force. The Quds force is responsible for carrying out lethal activities outside of Iran by, for example, providing training, funding and weapons to groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. It has been accused of setting up fake companies in Syria to support the development of Quds Force activities in Syria.

The UK also imposed sanctions on further IRGC provincial commanders for their roles in overseeing human right violations against protestors. Today’s designations include Ahmed Zulqadr, Commander of the IRGC Seyyed al-Shohada provincial corps in Tehran province and Deputy Commander of IRGC corps in Tehran City, and Alireza Heydarnia, Commander of the IRGC for the Alborz Province.

These sanctions constitute an asset freeze and UK travel ban on the individuals concerned and send a wider signal on the UK’s commitment to backing condemnation with action.

Further information:

The full list of those sanctioned today is as follows:

• Ali Asghar Nourouzi, Chairman of the Board of Directors the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cooperative Foundation.
• Seyyed Aminollah Emami Tabatabai, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cooperative Foundation.
• Yahya Ala’Oddini, Director of the Board of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cooperative Foundation.
• Jamal Babamoradi, Director of the Board of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cooperative Foundation.
• Ahmad Karimi, Director of the Board of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Cooperative Foundation.
• Ahmed Zulqadr, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Seyyed al-Shohada Provincial Corps in Tehran Province and the Deputy Commander of IRGC Corps in Tehran City
• Alireza Heydarnia, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for the Alborz Province.