Iran poses a serious and persistent threat to the United Kingdom, according to a new report from the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.
The findings highlight Iran’s wide-ranging hostile activities, including assassination plots, cyberattacks, espionage, and disinformation campaigns targeting UK nationals and interests.
The comprehensive inquiry, based on evidence gathered between August 2021 and August 2023, reveals that Iran is stepping up its aggression through a combination of direct actions and proxy networks. These include criminal organisations, terrorist groups, and private cyber operators, which Tehran uses to maintain plausible deniability while launching attacks abroad.
The Committee has raised alarm over a significant increase in physical threats to Iranian dissidents and regime critics residing in the UK. It also warns of growing espionage activity supporting potential future attacks.
While the UK Government has focused much of its efforts on Iran’s nuclear programme, the report criticises this approach for being too narrow. It notes a lack of sustained strategy and highlights a critical shortfall in Iran-specific expertise across government departments. Reactive short-term responses have, the report says, hindered the development of a robust understanding of Iran’s broader threat landscape.
The governance framework handling these threats is described as overly complex, with excessive discussion and insufficient action. The Committee calls for a long-term strategy supported by consistent funding and improved cyber deterrence. It urges the Government to raise the cost for Iran when it engages in cyberattacks against the UK.
Since April 2024, the Government has made some progress by placing Iran under the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme and introducing powers to ban state-linked groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, the Committee points out that key gaps remain and criticises ministers for retreating from earlier commitments to modernise the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Although the report does not include events after August 2023, such as the Hamas attacks in October or later military action involving Iran, its findings are considered crucial for understanding Iran’s evolving threat to British national security.
The Committee has stressed the need for a clear, long-term national security strategy to counter Iran’s full spectrum of hostile activity. This includes sustained investment, structural reforms, and more decisive deterrence measures.
