Iranian influence operations in the UK

The Islamic Republic of Iran has conducted influence operations within the United Kingdom in order to weaken and sow disunity within the United Kingdom. Iran also carries out operations to weaken or damage UK based Iranian opposition groups and media.

According to researchers, Iranian influence campaigns have included among other things: involvement in the promotion of Scottish independence to sow disunity in the United Kingdom. The spreading of fundemntalist islamic ideology. The lobbying of politicians to promote a policy of British appeasement toward Iran. Terror plots and violent schemes against opposition Persian language journalists among others.

Iranian operations are conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. In 2025, British government adviser, Jonathan Hall told the New York Times, the United Kingdom “Faces ‘Extraordinary’ Threat from Russian and Iranian Plots”.

Background

Iran views the United Kingdom as a “historic antagonist” due to the United Kingdom’s colonial history in the Middle East. According to the UK defence journal, the weakening of the UK’s “internal cohesion” is part of Iran’s strategy in fighting Western countries through asymmetric warfare. Due to financial limitations, Iran has employed “cover online influence” as a relatively cheap method to influence politics and beliefs in western countries. Iran is said to view the United Kingdom as “little Satan”, whilst the United States is viewed as “Big Satan”.

Influence operations in the United Kingdom

Iran was placed in the highest tier of the foreign influence register in 2025.

According to National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI), the Islamic revolutionary guard corps (IRGC) has been conducting operations in the United Kingdom to promote fundamentalist ideology in sync with IRGC propaganda. According to NUFDI, Iran has used cultural centers as “propaganda centers”. NUFDI identified 3 Iranian objectives in its operations. A political objective which involves the lobbying of British politicians in order to achieve a policy of appeasement toward Iran. A cultural objective, the whitewashing of Iranian action, the radicalization of the Iranian diaspora. An educational objective, to “manipulate” young people into justifying Iranian action deemed as terrorism by the West as well as believe Iranian propaganda.

Among centers identified as disseminating Iranian objectives is the Islamic center of Britian whose head Seyed Hashem Moosavi was personally chosen by Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The Islamic Center dubbed ICE by NUFDI, has operations in several UK regions. Branches known to have faced radicalization concerns include the previously mentioned Manchester center, the Tawheed Newcastle Islamic Center, the Imam Reza Cultural Center in Birmingham, and Glasgow’s Al-Mahdi Islamic Centre.

A Birmingham center has also received UK funding which was then channeled to IRGC generals Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandis and Qassem Solemani who are considered terrorists by Western countries. The Iranian regime's political outreach in the UK focuses on shaping public and political opinion by engaging with various groups to encourage a more lenient approach from British lawmakers. NUFDI notes that this strategy has been aided by broader liberal trends in the West, which Tehran exploits to frame itself as a victim of Western hostility. This influence reportedly extends beyond official diplomatic efforts, reaching into think tanks, academic circles, and media platforms to spread pro-regime messaging. A notable example is the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in London, a self-described human rights charity with a budget exceeding £400,000. Its director, Massoud Shadjareh, has publicly supported figures like Qassem Soleimani and organizes events such as the IHRC’s annual Al-Quds Day rally.

According to NUFDI, the Iranian regime’s involvement in the UK’s education sector is particularly troubling, with efforts reportedly spanning from early childhood through postgraduate studies. These initiatives according to NUFDI promote a worldview centered around the Islamic Republic, aiming to shape the ideological outlook of students across diverse backgrounds. This approach is viewed as a means of fostering a generation sympathetic to the regime’s goals. NUFDI identified this as potentially at odds with British democratic values and aligned with efforts to advance the Islamic Revolution abroad.

The report pointed to cooperation between UK academic institutions and Iranian entities in sensitive fields such as drone technology. Instances have been cited where individuals linked to the IRGC allegedly received public funding to conduct research in British universities, effectively enabling Iran to bypass domestic technological limitations.

According to the report, “In essence, dual-use technology that the IRI could not develop domestically is instead researched and developed within the UK via the educational network established by ICE6768,” the NUFDI also stated “Reportedly, this research could be correlated to the increases in guidance range, accuracy, and ease of manufacturing as Iran began scaling up its kamikaze drone production for Russia’s war in Ukraine.”

Educational institutions identified in connection with pro-regime activities include the Islamic Republic of Iran School in London, the Tebyan Islamic School, the Navid Ayandeh International School, and the Islamic College.

NUFDI warned that Iran had turned the UK into a key hub for spreading extremist ideology and regime influence, taking advantage of what it considers to be minimal government oversight. It reported that institutions tied to the IRGC and Iran’s ministry of intelligence (MOIS) operated freely, often under the guise of cultural or educational centers. NUFDI reported that similar networks may exist in the U.S. and Europe. NUFDI found the scale of the operation “shocking”. NUFDI identified over 20 regime-linked institutions in the UK.

Policy Exchange found Iran is “active meddling in British society and politics”. According to the policy paper, Iran is a “ direct threat to British social cohesion”. The report identified Iran has networks of agents and allies in the United Kingdom which have been used to “ infiltrate British society”. Iranian influence operations are said to have some “overlap” with Iran’s intelligence activity in the UK. The paper identified pan Islamic institutions supported by Iran as propagators of Iranian agenda. The organisations identified promote “anti Western causes”.

Encouragement of UK disunity

In 2014, before Scotland’s independence referendum, Iran linked social media accounts spread memes and cartoons of UK prime minister David Cameron to promote a view of England being authoritarian. Iranian facebook pages “mimicked” Scottish media and thus were able to gain momentum.

Iranian state English language media, Press TV was used to showcase Scottish independence as “anti imperialist” and spread stories that the London government was “militarizing Scottish territory to suppress secessionist sentiment”. According to UK defence journal, Iran’s influence operations in 2014 did not achieve significant impact in Scotland. The journal identified the dissemination of Iran’s narrative of portraying “Scotland as oppressed, Westminster as colonial overlord, and independence as liberation”.

In 2024, the Times reported that Iran’s revolutionary guard corps has a network of fake X (formerly twitter) accounts which are used to cause tension and disunity within the United Kingdom and the United States. It was found that Iranian linked accounts demonstrate support for Scottish independence and for the Scottish National Party. Clemson university researchers, who had previously discovered the Russian network in the 2016 US elections, discovered at least 80 accounts pretending to be left wing British citizens. According to the Times, “at least 4 per cent of the discussion on X surrounding Scottish independence” was done by the Iranian network. The network had at least a quarter million followers according to the researchers. In 2023, it was found that the Scottish National Party (SNP) provided £372k to an Iran linked mosque.

Following the Iran-Israel war, the UK based defense think tank UK Defence journal found evidence showing an Iranian social media campaign seeking to influence the United Kingdom’s internal integrity. A network of twitter accounts linked with Iran went silent following the Israeli attack on Iran. Iran had power blackouts as well as internet shortages following the attack. The UK Defence journal found that Iran was using the issue of Scottish independence to “weaken ” Britian as well as “amplifying internal division”. Iranian accounts stopped operating following Israeli strikes on electronic warfare and cyber operations infrastructure of the Islamic revolutionary guards corps in Iran. 48 hours after the strikes, Iran blacked out the internet. The UK defence journal noted in it’s editor’s note that it did “not claim that Scottish independence is a foreign plot”. The journal also noted that Iran is exploiting anti imperialist or left wing sentiment to promote its own agenda.

Scottish minister, Robertson in response to criticsm said this may be used to smear pro independence scots.

According to the Jewish Chronicle’s editor, Iran’s strategy in the UK is to “destabiling the UK and the government in Westminster”. According to the Jewish Chronicle, supporting Scottish independence assists in the achievement of Iran’s goals.

According to Exchange Policy, Iranian Islamic organizations operating within the United Kingdom have deep relations with the Scottish National Party as well as Scotland’s former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

The Times found in 2024, that an Iranian twitter network was promoting criticism of the British monarchy. The Times also found that the Iranian network targeted anti-immigrations riots and the Reform UK party.

Terrorism and violence in UK

In 2022, 20 plots by Iran targeting British citizens were foiled by UK security agencies. In 2022, MI5 found an increase of 48% in Iranian activity in the UK in comparison to 2021. In march 2025. In may 2025, 3 men, alleged to be Iranian spies were arrested and accused of targeted Iranian opposition journalists, specifically journalists working for Iran international based in the United Kingdom. The BBC reported that “they are charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, namely that of Iran” There accused also of collecting information in order to violently target a UK based individual.

In June 2025, British government adviser, Jonathan Hall said the “Faces ‘Extraordinary’ Threat from Russian and Iranian Plots”. Hall said Iran uses local criminals in order to perform intimidation, violence and espionage within the United Kingdom.” A British army soldier, Daniel Khalife, was accused of spying for Iran after “offering his services as a double agent” to MI5. Hall told the New York Times that Iran and Russia were exploiting polarization in the West to achieve their aims.

Operations against Iranians in the UK

Against journalists and media

According to Reporters without borders, Iran is carrying out "systematic targeting of journalists reporting on Iran from abroad, in an effort to silence them." The group also reported that "London, home to major Persian-language broadcasters, has been a hotspot for such attacks because of the large number of Iranian journalists based there," Tim Davie, the BBC director general identified “significant and increasingly alarming” in “attempts to pressure BBC Persian journalists’ families in Iran, including arbitrary interrogations, travel bans, passport confiscations, and threats of asset seizures”.

In 2024, Iran international journalist, Pouria Zeraati was stabbed in an assassination attempt by Iran BBC Persian language journalists and staff reported that their familes are being “terrorised” by the Iranian regime. According to the National union of journalists, Persian language jouranlists that wish to see their families in Iran will be “placing their lives in direct danger”. According to a BBC journalist, Iran is punishing their families for their work. BBC jouranlists have also received death and rape threats from Iran. Vahid Beheseit, a British Iranian political activist said The UK’s lack of action against the IRGC is “encouraging them to continue assassinations and terrorist activities, brainwashing our youth and creating a sleeping cell. We are somehow encouraging them instead of stopping them, by not holding them accountable.”

See also

• Iran–United Kingdom relations