HOW IRANIAN BANKS ‘LINKED TO TEHRAN’S MILITARY’ ARE STILL OPERATING IN LONDON

The Government is facing increasing cross-party demands to shut down the UK operations of two Iranian state-owned banks accused of funneling cash to Tehran’s proxy militias and helping to fund the regime’s foreign policy.

Dame Margaret Hodge, a senior Labour MP and leader of a Parliamentary taskforce on corruption, told i that it was “utterly depressing” that the two financial institutions – Melli Bank and Bank Saderat – continue to run subsidiaries in London despite their history of being named in Western sanctions regimes.

Melli Bank has been cited in American sanctions for allegedly supporting the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), while Bank Saderat has been targeted by Washington over claims it has provided financial services for Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Both banks were also found liable by the US Federal Court in 2021 for a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel in 2015 that left two people dead. A judge had ruled that the finance houses had been used by the Quds Force, an offshoot of the IRGC created to liaise with and fund Tehran’s proxy militias to pass funds to terror groups.

The renewed call for action by UK ministers follows pressure from senior Conservative backbenchers, including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, for sanctions to be applied to the two banks to stop them from operating within the UK’s financial system. Bank Saderat, which along with Melli Bank is state-owned, has an office in the heart of the City close to the Bank of England. Melli Bank operates from a Victorian former municipal library in well-heeled Kensington.

In a report issued on Wednesday by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption, MPs warned that Iran was using financial assets abroad to advance its interests, and called for stronger enforcement of existing sanctions to deter rogue regimes.

Dame Margaret told i: “It is utterly depressing that we are allowing banks in the UK to allegedly funnel cash to terror groups like the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, who have sent hundreds of missiles into Israel and who fund the activities of Hamas and Hezbollah. The group must be proscribed but, more importantly, any associated bank should be held to account.”

The Government is already under cross-party pressure to follow Washington by declaring the IRGC – a powerful paramilitary force set up to safeguard Iran’s Islamic revolution – a terrorist group. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Wednesday that he wanted see new co-ordinated sanctions against Iran as G7 foreign ministers gathered in Italy to discuss the crisis caused by Tehran’s missile barrage against Israel last weekend.

At the same time, there is also a growing focus on state-owned Iranian entities, including Tehran’s flag airline Iran Air, continuing to operate in London despite previously reported links with the IRGC or other elements of the regime. Iran Air was approached for comment.

Sir Liam Fox, the former Conservative defence secretary, this week confronted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over the UK presence of the Iranian companies, saying more needed to be done to counter Tehran’s “malign intentions”.

Speaking last week, Sir Iain described Britain’s policy towards the IRGC’s alleged affiliates as “ridiculous”. He added: “You have Iranian banks operating in the UK – one of the world’s premier financial centres – with impunity, alongside the IRGC.”

Both Iranian banks, which were founded prior to the Iranian revolution in 1979, have previously underlined that they conform with all UK banking standards and financial regulations. Neither bank responded last night to a request to comment on the calls for them to face sanctions.

The two financial institutions have been targeted by a number of international sanctions regimes in recent years, including complaints set out by the European Union that have since lapsed.

Melli Bank remains under American sanctions which, in 2018, accused it of allowing “the equivalent of billions of dollars” to flow through accounts held with it by the IRGC and Quds Force, as well as funneling funds to Shia militia groups in Iraq.

Bank Saderat is subject to similar US restrictions for allegedly also funneling funds to Tehran’s proxy militias, as well as for providing financial services such as letters of credit to companies involved in Iran’s weapons programmes.

In what was hailed as a landmark ruling three years ago, a US judge ruled that the two banks were among a group of institutions, including the IRGC, which should be held liable for a Hamas attack in 2015 that claimed the lives of married couple Eitam and Naama Henkin. The Federal Court ruled that there was sufficient evidence the institutions were responsible for helping to fund Hamas for them to be held liable for the couple’s death.

Experts underlined that there was a requirement for Britain to ensure that any Iranian banks operating in UK could prove they were not linked with terrorism.

Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, said: “The UK has a responsibility to ensure that financial institutions operating in the heart of London are not connected to global aggression or terrorism in any way.

“Given long-standing concerns about Melli Bank and Bank Saderat’s operations – as seen by their legal travails in the US and their inclusion in various sanction regimes over the past two decades – our financial regulators need to confirm that these institutions pose no threat.”

2024-04-18T05:05:25Z dg43tfdfdgfd