Britain to withdraw UK staff from embassy in Iran

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it was temporarily withdrawing UK staff from its embassy in Iran due to the ongoing security situation there.
"We have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely," Britain said on its travel advice website page for Iran.
Israel and Iran have been in conflict since last week after Israel launched military strikes on Iran, which retaliated with waves of missiles.
British foreign minister David Lammy has been urging the two sides to find a diplomatic solution and is in Geneva on Friday for nuclear talks with Iran and European counterparts.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Sun

26 minutes ago

• The Sun

Iran plots to activate terrorist sleeper cell network across West in desperate last act in face of Israeli destruction

A 'VULNERABLE' IRAN may activate a network of sleeper cells across the West in the face of the Israeli bombing campaign, experts have warned. With its military and top Islamist leadership on the ropes, analysts say a weakened Iran could resort to asymmetric terror warfare in a bid to sow chaos against its enemies. 4 4 4 It has now been more than a week since Israel began pounding Iran's nuclear facilities and other military targets. The goal, as the Israelis say, is to thwart the Iranian regime's efforts to produce nuclear weapons - as well as more ballistic missiles, including long-range weapons that can strike targets far beyond Israel. While Iran has been responding by launching frequent salvos of ballistic missiles, its top military command has been decapitated. And Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been forced to live in underground bunkers. Experts now fear that a vicious Iran could awaken its network of sleeper cells to carry out terror plots across the West. Barak Seener, a security and defence expert at Henry Jackson Society and Iran expert, said: "The very fact now that the Iranian regime is volatile, it's targeted, and it's highly vulnerable — that's what actually makes it increasingly dangerous to the West." Iran's murderous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is thought to run an extensive network of sleeper cells across the world. Mr Seener said that these sleeper cells could be regular people living regular lives. But when given the signal, they could carry out terrorist activities targeting the West. These terror operations could target public infrastructure and even civilians, with no weapons off the table, experts warn. The sleeper cells could even carry out assassination attempts on top leaders that could throw the world into chaos. Last year, an Iranian agent was charged with plotting to kill Donald Trump in an assassination that would have shaken the world. US prosecutors say the rogue state told ex-con Farhad Shakeri — said to be hiding in Tehran — to devise a seven-day plan to spy on and murder him. Prosecutors said an official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard told Shakeri to devise a plan to eliminate the President elect. They claim the planned hit was an attempt to take vengeance for a US drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, then said to be the world's No1 terrorist, in 2020. Trump's former security advisor, John Bolton, said the US President is "at the top" of an 'assassination list' from the Middle East nation. Mr Seener said: "They live amongst us in regular communities, have regular jobs, and they just are awaiting being activated to conduct malign activities, whether it be through a telephone text or a beeper, and then they already know what they are going to be doing. "If the regime feels threatened and on the verge of being toppled, then they may say, 'you're going to go down with us,' and at that point they may unleash their sleeper cells." In an op-ed for The Sun, expert Mark Almond wrote: "Iran's Islamic regime is a dangerous, wounded predator. "It cannot defeat Israel, but it could go mad and unleash terrorism, even using chemical weapons, which its industries can make much more easily than nuclear weapons." 4 Mr Seener said the attacks could range from an attack against a synagogue, an embassy, or blowing up a dirty bomb in Central London. Sir Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned back in October that Iran could turn on UK targets if it felt Britain was too enthusiastic in its support for Israel. He said the attacks could increase if the Middle East conflict intensifies. In August, Matt Jukes, the head of Counter Terror Policing, warned that Britain is facing an increase in plots by hostile states. He said Iranian dissidents and diaspora communities have been 'clearly at risk of kidnapping or assassination'. "These are people who are doing it daily. And when you are projecting soft power, you're creating the cultural milieu in which terrorism can be conducted much more readily. Counterterror police have investigated 15 of these cases alongside MI5. MI5 has responded to 20 plots backed by Iran since 2022, it was reported. Mr Seener said: "The reason why the Irgc can act with impunity, and why British citizens are at risk, is because of the British Government's unwillingness and failure to designate the Irgc as a terrorist organisation. "It means that they are able to conduct activities and infiltrate mosques, charities, community centres, cultural centres, and many of them, their directorship has been directly appointed by the supreme leader, Khamenei." "British Shias go on pilgrimages to religious sites in Iran and Iraq. They are targeted by the IRGC and recruited, so that when they return to the UK, they can conduct surveillance on potential targets." Iran's terror on UK street By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter Iran-fuelled hit squads on the streets of the UK have been linked to at least 15 threats to kill or kidnap detected by authorities. They are all part of a campaign of intimidation aimed at those who speak out against the hardline regime. The MI5 has accused Tehran of more than a dozen assassination and kidnap plots in Britain against dissidents and media organisations in the past two years. Officials have previously warned that the threat against Iranian critics living in the UK has ramped up drastically after the horror October 7 attacks. And given the hostile situation in the Middle East, Iran could ramp up its secret terror activities in the UK, Europe and the US, experts fear. In 2022, Major Gen Hossein Salami, the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC warned: "You've tried us before. Watch out because we're coming for you." Last year, Iranian TV journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed outside his home in London, sparking an investigation led by counter-terrorism police. The suspects were believed to be proxy agents hired by Tehran. Mr Zeraati works for Iran International, a London-based Persian-speaking channel which has reported on Iran's human rights violations. He said a man approached him and asked for £3 before another man appeared and stabbed him in the leg. The two fled in a car being driven by a third man, leaving Mr Zeraati bleeding in the street. Investigators believed the three culprits were able to flee the country on a flight from Heathrow within hours of the attack. Mr Zeraati, whose organisation has been a vocal critic of Iran, said the attack was a "warning shot" from Tehran. He called on the UK government to declare the IRGC a terrorist group to stop it from spreading its doctrine. He said: "It will also send a clear message to the regime in Iran that enough is enough. "The whole of Western civilisation is in danger because of the threat the IRGC poses." A report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) found almost half of journalists who covered Iran from the UK reported being physically or verbally harassed in the past five years. Individuals have been sent death threats by text and voice notes, with one message noting that the 'water underneath Westminster Bridge was very deep'. One said they were constantly worried about Iran targeting their children, saying: 'I wake up in the middle of the night. I check my son to see if he's there. I won't let him play in the garden on his own. I have to be there. I'm on alert constantly.' Another reporter told the RSF she had a package, which was designed to look like it contained anthrax, hand-delivered to her apartment block. While female TV journalist was approached on a London bus by a man who told her: 'We will kill you. You are a very bad person.' All of them are understood to have voiced their dissent against Tehran. The IRGC is the principal supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are proscribed in the UK. Amid threats of all-out war in the Middle East, officials last year wanted to expedite tightening domestic terror laws to ban IRGC operatives from nurturing Islamist terrorism at home. Current sanctions on Iran do not prevent state-linked organisations spreading jihadi propaganda or carrying out soft-power activities designed to radicalize British citizens. Kasra Aarabi, Director of IRGC Research at United Against Nuclear Iran, said: 'The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is the most antisemitic armed Islamist extremist organisation in the world. 'The government needs to proscribe the IRGC as a matter of urgency. 'The failure to proscribe the IRGC is putting British lives at risk, not least those from the British-Jewish community and British-Iranian diaspora —the two primary targets of IRGC terrorism in the UK.'

Sky News

27 minutes ago

• Sky News

Sir Keir Starmer tries to contain rebellion among Labour MPs over welfare reforms

Sir Keir Starmer had a series of one-on-one meetings with Labour MPs on Friday to try to contain a rebellion on the government's welfare reforms. Ahead of the assisted dying vote, the prime minister met privately with some of the dozens of MPs with concerns about the proposed cuts to sickness and disability benefits. The first vote on the legislation, which the chancellor says will save £5bn a year from the welfare bill, will be held in early July. The prime minister's involvement at this stage suggests a major effort is underway to quell a potential rebellion. Cabinet ministers say they do not expect mass resignations, but one junior minister told Sky News that opposition to the reforms was "pretty strong". One frontbencher, government whip Vicky Foxcroft, resigned her post yesterday, writing that she understood "the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill" but did not believe the proposed cuts "should be part of the solution". Other junior ministers and whips have not, as yet, moved to follow her. But one government insider said: "It's difficult to tell if the mood will harden as we get closer. There's a lot of work going on." The package of reforms is aimed at encouraging more people off sickness benefits and into work, but dozens of Labour rebels said last month that the proposals were "impossible to support". 1:34 Welfare secretary Liz Kendall is also meeting individually with MPs. She said earlier this week that the welfare system is "at a crossroads" and the bill was about "compassion, opportunity and dignity". Ministers are trying to convince MPs that a £1bn fund to support disabled people into work, and the scrapping of the Work Capability Assessment, a key demand of disability groups, make the cuts package worth voting for. They insist that 90% of current claimants of personal independence payment (PIP) will not lose the benefit. But disability groups say the cuts will have a "disastrous" effect on vulnerable people.

Reuters

31 minutes ago

• Reuters

Iran says no to nuclear talks during conflict as UN urges restraint

DUBAI/JERUSALEM, June 20 (Reuters) - Iran said on Friday it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under attack by Israel, as Europe tried to coax Tehran back into negotiations and the United States considers whether to get involved in the conflict. A week into its campaign, Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran. The Israeli military later said they had struck surface-to-air missile batteries in southwestern Iran as part of efforts to achieve air superiority over the country. Explosions were heard in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province and at least four people there were killed, IRNA news agency reported. At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-storey building in Tehran housing a bakery and a hairdresser's, Fars news agency reported. Iranian air defences were activated on Friday evening, Fars news agency reported. Iran fired missiles at Beersheba in southern Israel and Haifa in the north, causing damage to an Ottoman-era mosque, according to Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. A foreign ministry video also showed extensive damage to a nearby high-rise building that houses a branch of Israel's Interior Ministry. Haifa is home to Israel's busiest seaport and a naval base. Fars news agency quoted an Iranian military spokesman as saying Tehran's missile and drone attacks on Friday had used long-range and ultra-heavy missiles against military sites, defence industries and command and control centres. About 20 missiles were fired in those latest Iranian strikes, an Israeli military official said, and at least two people were hurt, according to the Israeli ambulance service. Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the U.N. Security Council his country would not stop its attacks "until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled". Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the U.S. may join the war. NUCLEAR RISKS The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint. "Armed attack on nuclear facilities... could result in radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked," Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security Council. He spoke a day after an Israeli military official said it had been "a mistake" for a military spokesperson to have said Israel had struck Bushehr, Iran's only nuclear power plant. He said he could neither confirm nor deny that Russian-built Bushehr, located on the Gulf coast, had been hit. Iran said on Friday its air defences had been activated in Bushehr, without elaborating. Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities but that it wants to avoid any nuclear disaster. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also speaking at the world body's Security Council, said the Iran-Israel conflict could "ignite a fire no one can control" and called on all parties to "give peace a chance". Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation. The White House said on Thursday President Donald Trump would decide on U.S. involvement in the conflict in the next two weeks. Trump presided over a national security meeting about Iran on Friday with top aides at the White House, a U.S. official said. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is in regular contact with the Iranians, with Qatar acting as an intermediary, the official added. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the U.S. "until Israeli aggression stops". But he later arrived in Geneva for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear programme. Before the meeting with France, Britain, Germany and the European Union's foreign policy chief, two diplomats said Araqchi would be told the U.S. is still open to direct talks. But expectations for a breakthrough are low, diplomats say. URANIUM ENRICHMENT A senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that any proposal for zero enrichment - not being able to enrich uranium at all - would be rejected, "especially now under Israel's strikes". Israel's Foreign Minister Saar, speaking in Haifa, said he was very sceptical about Iran's intentions. "We know from the record of Iran they are not negotiating honestly," he said. Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this. Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to authorities. Reuters could not independently verify casualty figures for either side. Western and regional officials say Israel is trying to shatter the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian opposition groups think their time may be near, but activists involved in previous protests say they are unwilling to unleash mass unrest with their nation under attack. Iranian state media reported rallies of "solidarity and resistance" in several cities.