United Kingdom expands sanctions on Iran introducing new import and export controls across multiple sectors effective 29 September 2026.
The United Kingdom has expanded sanctions on Iran, adding import, export, financial and transport controls across several sectors from Sept. 29, 2026.
The measures cover goods linked to energy, precious metals, software, shipping, aircraft and Iran’s defence and nuclear programmes. They also restrict certain services connected with Iranian entities and specified ships, extending the effect beyond a shipment’s immediate destination.1
The purpose is to increase pressure on Iran and limit access to UK services and markets. The cost falls on UK businesses through screening, licensing, routing and transaction checks, with some trade prohibited altogether.
The Sept. 29 legal change
The measures were made through the Iran (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. They amend both the Iran (Sanctions) (Nuclear) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and the Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023.2
The road to Sept. 29
The regulations apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They were made on Sept. 7, laid before Parliament on Sept. 8 and came into force on 29 September 2026.2
The change adds new schedules of controlled goods and technology, numbered 1A to 1I. Those schedules sit alongside existing restrictions, creating a wider set of product and end-use checks for shipments connected with Iran.1
For customs teams, that means the tariff description alone may not settle whether a transaction is allowed. The destination, final use, customer, shipping route and services attached to the deal can also determine whether a prohibition or licence requirement applies.
Goods caught by the controls
The new trade restrictions cover gold, precious metals and diamonds, as well as energy-related goods and technology. They also reach sector-specific software, other specified goods and technology, oil, petroleum products, petrochemicals and natural gas.3
What the new schedules catch
The rules apply to exports and trade involving certain goods that originated in Iran, including oil and petroleum products moved between third countries. Natural gas originating in Iran is covered in similar circumstances.3
The measures also target goods that could contribute to Iran’s defence sector. That brings ordinary-looking commercial equipment into a higher-risk review where its technical features or proposed use could connect it to restricted activity.
Export controls can apply even when Iran is not the immediate destination. The statutory guidance says the prohibition may cover goods intended for use in Iran, and identifies ultimate end use as part of the required assessment.4
That rule matters for distributors and freight routes passing through other countries. A sale to a customer outside Iran can still create a sanctions problem if the goods are intended to be transferred, installed or used there.
Import declarations and licences
The UK’s customs system is being used to apply new import controls to the commodity codes covered by the measure. The trade notice assigns measure type 714, described as import-control measures, to listed tariff chapters from Sept. 29.5
Two Iran regimes, one transaction
| Question | Trade sanctions regime | Nuclear sanctions regime |
|---|---|---|
| Import measure type | 714, from Sept. 29 | Not the import route |
| Export measure type | 717 | Matched against nuclear scope |
| Licensing | Single application can cover both | Refusal here likely blocks the licence |
| Approval under one | Not a separate clearance | Checks are linked |
Export restrictions are identified separately through measure type 717. The relevant commodity-code chapters include codes associated with the new Iranian sanctions, so export declarations must be matched against the updated control scope rather than treated as routine Iran trade.5
The result is a compliance process involving more than a customs entry. Businesses may have to establish whether a product falls within a schedule, whether an end user is acceptable and whether an available licence covers the entire transaction.
Licensing is also split across the two Iran regimes. A single application can be considered under both, but a licence is unlikely to be granted if the same activity is refused under the nuclear sanctions rules.4
The practical effect is to link the trade and nuclear checks. An approval under one set of rules cannot be treated as a separate clearance where the goods or services also fall under the other regime.
Ships, aircraft and financial services
The transport measures strengthen the UK’s powers over specified ships. They allow restrictions on their operation and related services, including port-access measures and detention, while also creating prohibitions on chartering, operating or registering certain vessels.1
Who gets drawn in
The aviation provisions prohibit Iranian cargo aircraft from landing in the UK, subject to limited exceptions. That adds a direct transport restriction to the controls already affecting goods, finance and technology.
Freight forwarders, carriers, insurers and port-service providers can therefore be drawn into a transaction even where they are not buying or selling the goods. Services connected with specified ships may be restricted alongside the cargo itself.
Financial controls add another layer for banks and companies handling Iranian business. The amendment introduces prohibitions covering investment in Iran, accounts or correspondent banking relationships with Iranian entities, insurance and reinsurance for persons connected with Iran, and transactions in Iranian bonds.3
A shipment may consequently fail at the payment or insurance stage even when its product classification appears acceptable. The restrictions reach the commercial infrastructure that allows trade to move, not only the physical goods.
The purpose and the paperwork
The wider Iran sanctions regime is intended to encourage the Iranian government to comply with international human rights law and to deter hostile activity against the UK or other countries. That purpose is set out in the statutory guidance for the 2023 regulations.4
The parallel nuclear regime gives effect to a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions and aims to restrict Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons and delivery systems.6
That dual purpose explains why the amendments combine conventional trade controls with rules on technology, finance, shipping and services. The policy is designed to make access to UK markets and support services harder across several parts of the Iranian economy.
The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation and the Department for Business and Trade are due to update guidance on the scope of the sanctions and the circumstances in which licences may be granted. The notice also directs businesses to licensing guidance covering trade sanctions, non-strategic goods and technology, ancillary services and professional services.1
That guidance will matter because the regulations contain exceptions as well as prohibitions. Maritime goods and technology can, in specified cases, support non-military use, a health emergency, urgent protection of human health and safety, or a response to a natural disaster.6
The exemptions are narrow and linked to defined purposes. They preserve limited routes for humanitarian or safety-related activity without restoring ordinary commercial access to the sectors covered by the new rules.
A wider sanctions enforcement net
The legislation also changes how ships can be specified and how conduct involving them can be treated. Prohibitions in ships’ licences can apply to conduct outside the UK or in UK territorial waters, increasing the importance of the vessel and service providers involved in a transaction.3
The amendment gives the Secretary of State powers to designate people for some of the new provisions. It also strengthens enforcement and maritime enforcement parts of the 2019 regulations, placing the new trade controls within a broader sanctions system.
The UK Sanctions List is now the central source for UK sanctions designations after the closure of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s consolidated list on Jan. 28, 2026.7
That makes party screening a continuing part of the trade decision. Businesses handling Iranian goods must consider companies, individuals and ships, rather than relying only on the product code or the country shown on a customs declaration.
The measures were announced through Notice to Exporters 2026/18, published on Sept. 8 by the Department for Business and Trade, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation.8
The timing leaves a short period between publication and commencement for transactions already being arranged. For goods, transport and services that cross several jurisdictions, the new restrictions can affect contracts and logistics after the commercial deal has been agreed.
The immediate impact will be greatest where Iranian connections are indirect. A third-country buyer, a specified vessel, an Iranian-origin energy product or a service provider linked to the transaction can bring a deal within the expanded regime even when the cargo is not travelling directly from the UK to Iran.
Further guidance may clarify how the new schedules and licensing grounds operate in individual cases. Until then, the regulations already set the key date: trade, finance and transport arrangements falling within their scope are subject to the expanded Iran controls from Sept. 29, 2026.
Sources
- ↩ Iran sanctions amendments effective 29 September 2026 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-exporters-202618-iran-sanctions-amendments-effective-from-29-september-2026/nte-202618-iran-sanctions-amendments-effective-from-29-september-2026
- ↩ Amendment of Iran Sanctions Regulations 2026 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/983/made/data.xht?view=snippet&wrap=true
- ↩ Iran (Sanctions) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/983/made
- ↩ Iran sanctions: statutory guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iran-sanctions-guidance/iran-sanctions-guidance
- ↩ Introduction of new Trade Sanctions against Iran – 23 September 2026 https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/news/stories/introduction-of-new-trade-sanctions-against-iran–23-september-2026
- ↩ Iran nuclear sanctions: statutory guidance https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/iran-nuclear-sanctions-guidance/iran-nuclear-sanctions-guidance
- ↩ UK Sanctions List Updates https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list
- ↩ Iran sanctions amendments for exporters effective 29 September 2026 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-to-exporters-202618-iran-sanctions-amendments-effective-from-29-september-2026