UK faces increased threat of Iranian attack
The threat of Iranian attacks in the UK could increase in the wake of the US bombing of the country's nuclear facilities, a Cabinet minister has warned.
Overnight, Donald Trump deployed B-2 bombers to strike Iran's three main nuclear sites in what the US president described as a 'very successful attack'.
Following the raid, countries across the world are bracing for potential retaliation, after Iran's foreign minister warned the bombings would have 'everlasting consequences'.
Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said that Iran's disruptive spying operations in the UK were 'already at a significant level'.
He said that hardly a week went by without an Iranian cyber attack on the UK's infrastructure.
He said: 'I think it would be naive to say that wouldn't potentially increase but again, there's a choice here for Iran.
'Do they want to continue being an agent of instability in the region and the wider world? Where has that got them? Where has it got the Iranian people?
'There is a better course of action for Iran to take here and I think they should consider that.'
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, said that Iran was 'a direct threat to the UK and had been for years'.
Posting on social media platform X, she said: 'Our security services have stopped multiple Iranian terrorist plots and assassination attempts on UK soil.
'Its ballistic missiles can reach Europe. We should support any ally that seeks to damage Iran's nuclear programme and eliminate the threat posed by the terror-exporting Revolutionary Guards.
'Anti-British sentiment is almost as central to the ayatollahs' deranged ideology as their obsessive hatred of Israel and the United States. They use the term 'Little Satan' interchangeably to refer to both the UK and Israel.'
Attacks on dissidents
In recent months and years there have been numerous plots by Iranian linked groups targeting dissidents, and other foreign nationals in the UK.
The threats have come in a variety of different forms, from attacks on individuals to alleged mass casualty assaults on Israeli linked premises.
In May, police uncovered an alleged terror plot to attack Israel's embassy in London by a group of Iranian nationals.
Sources told the Telegraph that the country's notorious Revolutionary Guard plotted the alleged attack to derail nuclear peace talks with the US.
Sources inside the regime suggested a hardline faction within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is to blame for sanctioning an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, central London.
The 'imminent' attack was allegedly foiled by MI5 and counter-terrorism police after a series of raids across the country.
Four Iranians were arrested in connection with the alleged plot in what Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, described at the time as one of the 'biggest counter-state threats and counter-terrorism operations' the country had seen in recent years.
Despite the warning, the four men have since been released without charge, although the investigation continues.
That same month, three alleged Iranian spies appeared in court charged with targeting UK-based journalists so that 'serious violence' could be inflicted on them.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, all from London, are accused of targeting individual journalists working for Iran International, an independent media organisation based in London.
They are charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, namely that of Iran, in carrying out UK-related activities and knew or ought to have reasonably known their conduct was likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.
Following the charges, Yvette Cooper said 'Iran must be held to account for its actions'.
In March last year, Iranian-British journalist Pouria Zeraati, who works for Iran International, was attacked outside his London home.
Two Romanian men have been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm following an investigation by counter-terrorism police.
The Iranian regime has used criminal proxies to target critics on western soil previously.
Hiring individuals with no apparent link to Iran makes it harder for police to counter a potential attack.
Following the attack, Mr Zeraati said he had moved abroad as he no longer felt safe living in the UK.
In July last year he said that Britain's approach to the threat posed by Iran was not enough to guarantee his safety.
Leading up to the attack, Iran International received repeated threats from Iran, with UK intelligence services foiling at least 15 plots to either kidnap or kill employees of the TV station.
Iran International says it provides independent coverage of events in the country but the regime in Tehran has declared it a terrorist organisation and said its workers would be pursued by its security services.
The Iranian chargé d'affaires in the UK, which serves as the head of its diplomatic mission, has denied any link between the Iranian regime and the attack on Zeraati.
Anti-Iranian regime protesters are also potential targets and on Friday, demonstrators were attacked during an action outside the Iranian embassy.
The Metropolitan Police said that seven men have been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, following the incident in which two men were admitted to hospital.
Videos circulating on social media also show the protesters calling for an end to the Iranian regime.
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