Britain will require Iran to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK, subjecting Tehran to an elevated tier of scrutiny in light of what the government says is increasingly aggressive activity.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said he would put the Iranian state, its security services and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into the enhanced tier of an upcoming registration scheme designed to protect against covert foreign influence. Iran would become the first country to be listed under the UK's foreign influence legislation.
"The Iranian regime is targeting dissidents, and it is targeting media organisations and journalists reporting on the violent oppression of the regime," Mr Jarvis told parliament. In November, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 said that since January 2022, his service and British police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots to kidnap or kill British nationals or people based in the UK regarded as a threat by Tehran.
The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (Firs), which is expected to be launched in the summer, will require "the registration of arrangements to carry out political influence activities in the UK at the direction of a foreign power", a government briefing document said. The move would mean anyone operating under what Mr Jarvis called Iran’s “malign” overseas intelligence activities would face jail.
With Iranian agents and their proxies conducting numerous undercover operations in the UK and Europe, the British government announced on Tuesday that “the whole Iranian state” will be placed on the enhanced tier of the new “foreign influence registration scheme”. Announcing the sanction in parliament, Mr Jarvis named Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security as two organisations under specific scrutiny.
The action will mean that people or organisations engaging in political influence activities on behalf of the foreign power will have to register with their government as part of a crackdown to curtail their lobbying and prevent covert foreign interference.
In 2023, an Austrian national was convicted of carrying out "hostile reconnaissance" against the London headquarters of Iran International, which is critical of Iran's government. The following March, a British journalist of Iranian origin who worked for Iran International sustained leg injuries in an attack near his home in London.
Counter-terrorism police led that investigation over concerns he was assaulted because of his work at the television news network. “People who are directed by Iran to conduct activities in the UK, such as criminal proxies, must register that activity,” Mr Jarvis told parliament. “They will face a choice, expose their actions to the government or face jail of up to five years”.
Britain was determined that its intelligence services and police would have “the tools they need to disrupt and degrade the threats that we face from Iran”, he added. Iran is among a number of countries, likely to include China and Russia, who are “blurring the lines between domestic and international states and their proxies” in conducting actions against the UK.
The number of state threat investigations being run by MI5 has risen by 48 per cent in the last year – “a stark indication of the increased threat”. Despite setbacks in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, the Tehran regime is acting more aggressively to advance its objectives and undermine Britain. MI5’s chief had disclosed that there were 20 Iran-backed plots over the last three years “presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens”, Mr Jarvis said.
It was going after dissidents and journalists reporting on its violent oppression, as well as Jewish and Israeli people. "(Iran) has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours. This is evidenced by the fact that direct action against UK targets has substantially increased over recent years," Mr Jarvis said.
"It is clear that these plots are a conscious strategy of the Iranian regime to stifle criticism through intimidation and fear," he said. "These threats are unacceptable. They must and will be defended against at every turn."
The move also appeared to be a warning to Iran that any further malign activity would lead to the IRGC being proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Britain, as it is by many other Western countries. Mr Jarvis indicated that this was now being actively examined.
It was also announced that all of Britain’s 45 police forces would be given training on state threats activity. “This will mean that when any frontline officer encounters a suspected state threats incident, they will know what to do and what to look for to ensure that our communities are kept safe,” Mr Jarvis added.
