10/07/2025
The threat of physical attacks by Iran on people living in the UK has increased "significantly" since 2022, according to a new report by parliament's intelligence watchdog.
Iran poses a "wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat" to the UK, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
It also said Iran's intelligence services were "willing and able - often through third party agents - to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK".
The report said there have been 15 murder or kidnap attempts against British citizens or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022.
Sky News has approached the Iranian embassy for a comment.
The report authors add: "Whilst Iran's activity appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China, Iran poses a wide-ranging threat to UK national security, which should not be underestimated: it is persistent and crucially - unpredictable."
The committee also says that while the threat is often focused on dissidents and other opponents to the regime, there is also an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK.
The report warns that, while Iran had not developed a nuclear weapon, it had taken steps towards that goal in recent years.
It found that Iran had been "broadly compliant" with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), aimed at limiting its nuclear ambitions.
But since Donald Trump withdrew from that deal in 2018, the report said the nuclear threat had increased and Tehran "had the capability to arm in a relatively short period".
The government is also accused of "fire-fighting" rather than developing a real understanding of Iran.
The report says: "The government's policy on Iran has suffered from a focus on crisis management, driven by concerns over Iran's nuclear programme, to the exclusion of other issues.
"As one of our expert witnesses told the committee: 'Strategy is not a word that I think has crossed the lips of policy makers for a while, certainly not in relation to Iran'."
The committee concluded its evidence-taking in August 2023, the result of two years of work, but the report authors say their conclusions "remain relevant."
