The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on a network of people who targeted Iranian opposition activists to kill them on orders from Iran, the US Treasury Department said.
The US Treasury said the network was run by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security and sanctioned 11 people linked to it, including Iranian drug trafficker Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti.
“The Iranian regime's continued efforts to target dissidents and activists demonstrate the regime's deep insecurity and intent to expand Iran's domestic repression internationally,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
There was no immediate comment from Iran.
The Treasury said the network, led by Sharifi-Zindashti, had carried out assassinations and kidnappings in several jurisdictions to silence perceived critics of Tehran.
The Treasury action freezes any U.S. assets of the recipients and generally prohibits Americans from dealing with them.
Treasury said that in 2021 the network had recruited Damion Patrick John Ryan, a Canadian citizen and member of the British Columbia-based Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Group, to murder people in the United States who fled Iran.
Ryan also allegedly recruited Canadian citizen and Hells Angels affiliate Adam Richard Pearson to carry out the murders, Treasury said. Both are currently imprisoned abroad on unrelated charges.
The sanctions come amid rising tensions in the Middle East. The United States and the United Kingdom blamed Iranian-backed groups on Monday for a drone attack in Jordan, near the border with Syria, that killed three American service members.
Britain imposed sanctions on Iranian officials it said were involved in threats to kill journalists on British soil and others it said were part of international criminal gangs linked to Tehran.
The UK Foreign Office said it would “sanction seven individuals and one organisation, including senior Iranian officials and members of organized criminal gangs collaborating with the regime”.
“The Iranian regime and the criminal gangs operating on its behalf represent an unacceptable threat to the security of the United Kingdom,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement.
“The United Kingdom and the United States have sent a clear message: we will not tolerate this threat,” he added.
