British firms being investigated for ‘helping Iran'
A number of British businesses are being investigated by the Government for potentially evading sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme, it has been reported.
The Treasury has identified nine suspected breaches of Britain's rigid sanctions regime against the country.
The sanctions are intended to discourage Iran's nuclear weapons programme and punish the country for violations of human rights and hostile actions against allies of the UK, such as Israel.
The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation, part of the Treasury, revealed in its annual review this week that it had opened the investigations. It did not name the companies or individuals under suspicion or investigation.
The firms are understood to be under suspicion of avoiding sanctions to assist Iran with its nuclear weapons programme.
A Government spokesman said: 'We are committed to ensuring that sanctions are robustly enforced, potential breaches investigated and appropriate action taken.'
The OFSI does not comment on specific active cases.
The Government currently sanctions around 200 organisations and individuals based in or linked to Iran because of alleged involvement in the country's nuclear weapons programme.
Last year, it said it was prepared to trigger 'snapback' sanctions against Iran over nuclear deal breaches.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said he would trigger a new round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.
The UK remains a participant of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran nuclear deal, and can therefore unilaterally force a return to sanctions if it considers that Iran has violated the terms of the deal.
The nuclear deal was significantly weakened by the US withdrawal in 2018 under the first Donald Trump administration, although major signatories, including the UK, France and Germany, remain committed in theory.
Last week, Mr Trump approved US strikes on some of Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear enrichment facilities.
It followed a series of smaller strikes by Israel in the preceding days, launched by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, after he claimed that Iran had enough highly enriched uranium to produce nine atomic bombs.
Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly said that Iran ' can never have a nuclear weapon ' but called for de-escalation in the war between Iran and Israel, which lasted for 12 days before a ceasefire was brokered.
The Prime Minister is understood to have received an hour's notice from the White House before the US strikes on Iran took place.
The British Government quickly made clear that it had played no role in the operation.
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