The New York Times revealed secret documents over the weekend showing that Iran had known about plans by Hamas to carry out its Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people, and that Tehran had been supportive of the action.

The report was denied by Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations.

Antonio Giustozzi, senior research fellow at the RUSI defense think tank, said further sanctions on Iranian institutions “would be essentially cosmetic actions, especially if the U.K. is not followed by most other European governments in doing so.”

“There would be no significant consequences in either case; the IRGC has developed advanced skills in busting sanctions and circumventing bans,” he said.

A government spokesperson said: “The U.K. government, law enforcement and our international partners continue to work together to identify, deter and respond to threats from Iran.

“That is why we continue to take strong action and hold the Iranian regime to account — we have sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in its entirety.”