A Special Relationship and a Special Responsibility to Stop Iranian Aggression Together

UANI Recommendations for a Joint U.S.-U.K. Iran Strategy

(New York, N.Y.) – As Boris Johnson takes over as prime minister of the United Kingdom and Dominic Raab begins his tenure as foreign secretary, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is releasing a strategy paper recommending ways the U.K. and the U.S. can work together to combat the Islamic Republic’s hegemonic and terroristic ambitions.

Recently, Iran seized the U.K.-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, an action illustrative of the Iranian regime’s behavior during the last 40 years. In 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini encouraged Iranian students to abduct and hold U.S. embassy personnel hostage for 444 days. In  2011, Iranian protesters were allowed to storm the U.K. embassy in Tehran, ransacking offices and stealing documents. Today, Iran continues to jail U.S. and U.K. dual-nationals on phony charges and without due process. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Babak and Siamak Namazi, and Michael White are just some of these hostages.   

Based on this shared history and building off of Foreign Secretary Raab’s strong comments rejecting any quid pro quo or barter with the Iranians, UANI’s strategy paper recommends a series of measures that should be embraced by the two countries, including:

  • Designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a proscribed terrorist organization, something the U.S. has done but the U.K. has not;
  • Leading an effort to make permanent an international arms embargo and ballistic missile limitations on Iran, which expire in 2020 and 2023, respectively, under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231;
  • Ensuring there is harmony between U.S. and U.K. human rights sanctions;
     
  • Increasing maritime security coordination in the Middle East; and
     
  • Persuading the U.K. government and companies to adopt an enhanced standard of due diligence, specifically Know-Your-Customer’s-Customer (KYCC).

To read the UANI strategy paper in its entirety, please click here.