UK faces rising and unpredictable threat from Iran, report warns
The UK faces a “rising” and unpredictable threat from Iran, and the government must do more to counter it, Parliament’s intelligence and security committee has warned.
The call comes as the committee publishes a major inquiry report that examined Iranian state assassinations, kidnappings, espionage, cyber attacks, and its nuclear programme. The report covers evidence up to August 2023 and does not assess the impact of heightened tensions following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel or the subsequent Iran-Israel conflict, though the committee insists the findings remain relevant.
The committee expressed concern over a “sharp increase” in physical threats against opponents of Iran’s regime in the UK. Chair Lord Beamish described Iran’s activities as persistent and wide-ranging, calling the intelligence services behind them “ferociously well-resourced.”
Iran’s embassy in London rejected the report’s conclusions as “biased” and “baseless.” The report accuses the UK government of being overly focused on crisis management and its nuclear programme while failing to adequately address broader threats from Iran.
The report noted an increase in threats against UK-based dissidents and Jewish and Israeli interests, documenting at least 15 attempted murders or kidnappings from early 2022 to August 2023. In October last year, MI5 put the figure at 20. Iran International, BBC Persian, and Manoto TV were named as media targets of Iranian efforts, with harassment of journalists and their families highlighted.
British-Iranian journalist Sima Sabet, formerly of Iran International and BBC World Service, revealed she had been targeted in an assassination plot. She now lives under constant surveillance and fear, stating, “Living under threat means your sense of safety is taken from you.”
The report also addressed Iran’s nuclear ambitions, stating Iran had not developed a nuclear weapon as of August 2023 but had the capability to arm quickly. It stressed that nuclear de-escalation “must be a priority.” The US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 was cited as a catalyst for increasing nuclear risks.
Additional recommendations from the report include reviewing the proscription of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation and reassessing whether sanctions could alter Iranian behaviour or push it closer to China.
Credit: BBC
