People in the UK are now at threat of physical attacks as much from Iran as from Russia, a major report has found.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee said the danger to Brits from the Middle East country has increased ‘significantly’ in the past three years.
At particular risk are Iranian dissidents and Jewish or Israeli ‘interests’, with attacks on those targets not considered attacks on the UK, the report says.
It explains: ‘It rather sees the UK as collateral in its handling of internal matters – i.e. removing perceived enemies of the regime – on UK soil.’
The committee cites comments from the Homeland Security Group, part of the Home Office, which said ‘the greatest level of threat we currently face from Iran’ is the threat of physical attack.
That risk is comparable with the one posed by Russia, it added.
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The report quotes the Intelligence Community as saying Russia and China ‘have a scale and a capability which Iran cannot match’, but Iran has ‘a risk appetite which is very “pokey” indeed’.
According to the source, in terms of threat to the UK, Iran ‘would be top of the Championship rather than the Premier League, but rising’.
The report on Iran is the result of evidence-taking which came to an end in August 2023 – meaning it does not take into account the impact of the attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7 the same year, or their aftermath.
That includes the bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli army, the escalation of conflicts with Iranian proxies including Hamas and Hezbollah, and the direct strikes on Iran by Israel and the US last month.
A release issued alongside the report says: ‘The landscape in the Middle East has changed significantly since the Committee concluded its evidence-taking, however the Report’s recommendations remain relevant.’
The committee also criticises successive governments for their ‘fire-fighting’ approach to tackling the threat from Iran.
Its report says: ‘The government must stop its short-termist, reactive approach: “longer-term” must mean the next five, ten, and twenty years, not 6-12 months.’
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