Recent revelations expose Iran’s covert activities in the West, with the Daily Mail revealing that Tehran is enlisting British Shias to spy on Jews and dissidents in the UK.
According to Israeli and British officials, IRGC agents target British Muslims visiting Shia holy sites in Iran and Iraq, recruiting them for espionage upon their return to the UK.
The recruited individuals are instructed to gather information on prominent British Jews, synagogues, and regime opponents.
The IRGC focuses on British Muslims from Lebanon, Iraq, and Pakistan, as Iranians in the UK are often secular and anti-regime.
The annual Arbaeen gathering in Iraq serves as a key recruitment opportunity, attracting up to 20 million Shia pilgrims worldwide, including approximately 400,000 Shia Muslims in the UK.
Israel has warned the UK about potential attacks by the Iranian regime and its proxies on British soil following Hamas’ October 7 attack.
There are concerns that Iran’s agents, posing as students on visas, are operating as spies in the UK. Experts highlight the difficulty of assessing the scale of Iranian agents in Europe and the UK but emphasize the risk posed by even a single operative slipping through.
The IRGC has reportedly engaged UK-based criminal networks for targeted actions on British soil due to the challenges Iranian spies face in operating freely.
Political analyst Damoun Mohammadi calls on European states to take a tougher stance against Tehran’s conspiracies targeting Iranian dissidents abroad.
He warns that Europe’s inaction could lead to the success of the regime’s plots. The IRGC’s involvement in plotting to assassinate Iran International television anchors in London has raised concerns, leading to the temporary relocation of the network’s broadcast to Washington, DC.
In December 2023, the UK’s MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum expressed growing concerns about Iran’s actions, emphasizing the need to address the rising threat posed by the Islamic Republic.
