LONDON — Britain pada Isnin mengarahkan sekatan terhadap tokoh tertinggi tentera Iran selepas serangan peluru berpandu balistik Iran pada 1 Oktober ke atas Israel.
Setiausaha Luar, David Lammy berkata Iran telah mengabaikan amaran berulang bahawa “tindakan berbahaya” – dan proksinya – mencetuskan konflik di Timur Tengah.
Antara individu yang dikenakan larangan perjalanan dan pembekuan aset ialah ketua komander tentera Iran, Abdolrahim Mousavi, dan tentera udara, Hamid Vahedi.
Iran berkata ia melancarkan serangan peluru berpandu sebagai tindak balas terhadap pembunuhan Israel terhadap pemimpin Hizbullah Hassan Nasrallah di Lubnan dan kematian pemimpin Hamas Ismail Haniyeh dalam pengeboman di Tehran yang dipersalahkan secara meluas ke atas Israel.
Ia adalah serangan langsung kedua Iran ke atas Israel selepas serangan peluru berpandu dan dron pada April sebagai tindak balas kepada serangan udara ke atas Konsulat Iran di Damsyik yang dipersalahkan ke atas Israel.
Lammy, di Luxembourg pada mesyuarat dengan menteri luar EU, berkata dalam satu kenyataan bahawa sekatan itu adalah cara untuk meletakkan Iran untuk bertanggungjawab dan mendedahkan mereka di sebalik serangan itu.
“Bersama sekutu dan rakan kongsi, kami akan terus mengambil langkah yang perlu untuk mencabar ancaman Iran yang tidak boleh diterima dan mendesak agar de-eskalasi di seluruh rantau ini,” tambahnya.
Senarai British turut menampilkan ketua perisikan Kor Pengawal Revolusi Mohammad Kazemi.
Dua syarikat, termasuk agensi angkasa lepas Iran, yang teknologinya boleh digunakan dalam peluru berpandu pelayaran dan balistik, dikenakan pembekuan aset.
Minggu lalu, kerajaan AS mengenakan sekatan ke atas berpuluh-puluh syarikat dalam sektor minyak dan petrokimia Iran untuk memotong pembiayaan untuk apa yang dikatakan sebagai “aktiviti ketidakstabilan” negara.
Pada Isnin juga, EU mengenakan sekatan ke atas pegawai dan entiti terkemuka Iran, termasuk syarikat penerbangan, yang dituduh mengambil bahagian dalam pemindahan peluru berpandu dan dron untuk digunakan Rusia terhadap Ukraine.
Blok itu berkata bahawa menteri luar EU meluluskan sekatan ke atas tujuh entiti, termasuk Iran Air, dan tujuh individu, termasuk Timbalan Menteri Pertahanan Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari dan pegawai kanan Pasukan Quds Pengawal Revolusi.
Kuasa Eropah terkemuka Britain, Perancis, dan Jerman menerima pakai sekatan serupa bulan lalu ke atas pemindahan peluru berpandu Iran ke Rusia, begitu juga AS.
Presiden Suruhanjaya Eropah Ursula von der Leyen mengalu-alukan penerimaan sekatan oleh seluruh blok, sambil menambah: “Lebih lagi diperlukan.”
“Sokongan rejim Iran terhadap perang pencerobohan Rusia terhadap Ukraine adalah tidak boleh diterima dan mesti dihentikan,” tulisnya di X.
Dua lagi syarikat penerbangan Iran, Saha Airlines dan Mahan Air, telah terjejas di bawah langkah EU, bersama-sama dengan dua firma perolehan yang dipersalahkan kerana “pemindahan dan pembekalan, melalui rangkaian perolehan transnasional, UAV buatan Iran serta komponen serta teknologi yang berkaitan ke Rusia.”
Sekatan itu juga menyasarkan dua syarikat yang mengeluarkan propelan untuk melancarkan roket dan peluru berpandu.
Mereka yang disasarkan tertakluk kepada pembekuan aset dan dilarang daripada pergi ke EU.
Iran menolak tuduhan Barat bahawa ia telah memindahkan peluru berpandu ke Rusia untuk digunakan di Ukraine.
Menurut Setiausaha Negara AS Antony Blinken, berpuluh-puluh anggota tentera Rusia telah menerima latihan di Iran menggunakan peluru berpandu Fath-360, yang mempunyai jarak 120 km.
AN-AFP, 14 Okt 2024
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UK orders sanctions against top Iranian military figures
LONDON — Britain on Monday ordered sanctions against top Iranian military figures after Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Iran had ignored repeated warnings that its “dangerous actions” — and those of its proxies — were fueling conflict in the Middle East.
Among the individuals subject to a travel ban and assets freeze are the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, Abdolrahim Mousavi, and the air force, Hamid Vahedi.
Iran said it launched the missile attack in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon and the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing widely blamed on Israel.
It was Iran’s second direct attack on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to an airstrike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus that it blamed on Israel.
Lammy, in Luxembourg at a meeting with EU foreign ministers, said in a statement that the sanctions were a way to hold Iran to account and expose those behind the attacks.
“Alongside allies and partners, we will continue to take necessary measures to challenge Iran’s unacceptable threats and press for de-escalation across the region,” he added.
The British list also features the Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi.
Two companies, including Iran’s space agency, whose technology can be used in cruise and ballistic missiles, were hit with an assets freeze.
Last week, the US government imposed restrictions on dozens of companies in Iran’s oil and petrochemicals sectors to cut off funding for what it said was the country’s “destabilizing activity.”
Also on Monday, the EU imposed sanctions on prominent Iranian officials and entities, including airlines, accused of taking part in the transfer of missiles and drones for Russia to use against Ukraine.
The bloc said that EU foreign ministers approved the sanctions on seven entities, including Iran Air, and seven individuals, including Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Hamzeh Ghalandari and the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force senior officials.
Leading European powers Britain, France, and Germany adopted similar sanctions last month over Iranian missile transfers to Russia, as did the US.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the adoption of the sanctions by the entire bloc, adding: “More is needed.”
“The Iranian regime’s support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is unacceptable and must stop,” she posted on X.
Two other Iranian airlines, Saha Airlines and Mahan Air, were hit under the EU measures, along with two procurement firms blamed for the “transfer and supply, through transnational procurement networks, of Iran-made UAVs and related components and technologies to Russia.”
The sanctions also target two companies producing propellants to launch rockets and missiles.
Those targeted are subject to an asset freeze and banned from traveling to the EU.
Iran rejects Western accusations it has transferred missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, dozens of Russian military personnel have received training in Iran on using the Fath-360 missile, which has a range of 120 km.
AN-AFP, Oct 14, 2024