British authorities have reportedly intercepted suspected Iranian agents attempting to enter the United Kingdom among illegal migrants, as an Iranian official claimed Tehran could use established smuggling networks to threaten London.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Iran has attempted to move intelligence-linked operatives into the United Kingdom through migrant-smuggling routes across the English Channel, according to a Daily Telegraph investigation.
British authorities reportedly identified and blocked some suspected agents using drones, facial-recognition technology and surveillance cameras mounted on watchtowers. The individuals were believed to have connections to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the regime’s principal foreign intelligence organization.
The full extent of any successful infiltration remains unknown. More than 30,000 Iranian nationals have reportedly entered Britain illegally by crossing the English Channel, making it difficult to determine how many people connected to Tehran’s intelligence services may already be inside the country.
Individuals associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are also believed to have reached Britain through conventional air travel, according to the report.
An unidentified Iranian official claimed the regime’s armed forces hold influence over many migrant-smuggling networks and can use those routes to position operatives inside Britain.
“At the moment, we have people right there in London, revolutionary people who care about the world and the lives of children – they wait for us to tell them what to do,” the official told The Telegraph. “We have not done that yet, but we can easily make London unsafe for you if we want to.”
“These smuggling routes are more important and useful than the missiles for us – we do not need a missile to target London, it’s easier than that,” the official added.
Concerns about potential Iranian attacks in Britain have intensified amid repeated threats from Tehran over the United Kingdom’s limited participation in the U.S. military campaign against Iran.
Warnings that the regime could exploit the Channel migration crisis predated the latest conflict. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage raised the issue in April, shortly after the Golders Green attack.
Farage said a source within the Iranian-Persian diaspora told him that operatives connected to Tehran had already entered Britain aboard small boats.
His source knew “for a fact that over the course of the last few weeks, there have been Iranian operatives crossing the Channel in small boats,” Farage said.
“To put that in simple terms, we are importing terrorists into our country from across the English Channel,” he added.
The reported attempts place additional scrutiny on Britain’s ability to identify national-security threats among illegal Channel arrivals. Although the Home Office has reportedly stopped some suspected operatives, officials have not established how many Iranian intelligence or IRGC-linked individuals may have entered successfully through maritime smuggling routes or commercial flights.
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