Iran is recruiting British Muslims on pilgrimages in the Middle East to spy on Jews and dissidents in the UK, it was claimed last night.
Recruiters from the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) approach British Shias visiting religious sites in Iran and Iraq.
They are told to return to the UK and gather information on prominent British Jews or targets such as synagogues, Israeli and British officials have separately told the Mail.
Some spy on British-based Iranian dissidents, whom the Tehran regime accuses of fomenting unrest back home.
Last night, an Israeli official said that since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, they had given a higher-than-usual number of warnings to the UK, alerting this country to potential attacks by Iranians or their proxies.
Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) force attend a rally marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day in Tehran
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) marching during the annual ‘Sacred Defence Week’ military parade marking the anniversary of the outbreak of the devastating 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq
A source said: ‘We do not know the scale of Iranian agents inside Europe and the UK , but all it takes is for one to slip through the net.’
Experts have also warned that some Iranians who come to study at British universities as international students on state scholarships are also spies.
Kasra Aarabi, of the United Against Nuclear Iran think-tank, said IRGC recruiters did not focus on hiring British Iranians, who are usually secular and oppose the Ayatollah regime. But British Shias who originated from Pakistan, Iraq and Lebanon were targeted at the Arbaeen festival in the holy Iraqi city of Karbala, which attracts up to 20 million pilgrims a year.
Most British Muslims belong to the Sunni sect of Islam. But it is estimated there are up to 400,000 Muslims who belong to the Shia sect, which is the state religion of Iran and sees itself as the protector of Shias across the world.
A Whitehall source said that when the IRGC wanted to assassinate or kidnap anyone on UK soil, it often used British-based organised criminal networks.
But information gathered by British spies may be used to carry out the attacks, one source said, adding: ‘The reason why the IRGC uses organised criminal networks to carry out the work here is because thankfully it is very difficult for Iranian spies to operate on British soil.’
The Ayatollah regime has targeted Iran International – a Farsi-language channel based in Chiswick, west London – accusing it of fomenting protests and demonstrations at home, especially after the death of student Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members march during the annual pro-Palestinians Al-Quds, or Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran
MI5 and counter-terror police say that since the start of 2022, the Iranian regime has tried to kill or harm at least 15 British-based Iranian dissident. (Pictured, the MI6 building in Vauxhall)
Ms Amini was violently assaulted by the country’s morality police for not wearing her headscarf correctly, and later died in hospital, sparking protests across the globe.
A British-based people smuggler-turned-informant was paid almost £200,000 by the IRGC to assassinate two British journalists who worked for the channel.
The Government has sanctioned five individuals linked to the attempted assassinations.
In December, Chechen criminal Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, 31, was jailed for three years after being found guilty of spying on the headquarters of Iran International in order to carry out a terror attack.
MI5 and counter-terrorism police said Dovtaev belonged to a European organised criminal network which was hired to carry out the attack.
MI5 and counter-terror police say that since the start of 2022, the Iranian regime has tried to kill or harm at least 15 British-based Iranian dissidents, sometimes publicly calling for their murders.
This week, it emerged the IRGC sent an Iranian couple to Sweden in 2015, using the cover of Afghan asylum seekers.
The couple lived in the country as a ‘sleeper cell’ until 2021 when they were activated to apparently assassinate three prominent Jews. But they were arrested by security services.
Terorism expert Professor Anthony Glees (pictured) said: ‘This is a serious threat that needs to be addressed’
Last year, it was reported that the Islamic College, a Shia educational institution based in Willesden Green, north-west London, had strong links to the Al-Mustafa University in Iran and sent students to its campus in the country.
Islamic College principal Dr Isa Jahangir was reported as the ‘representative’ of Al-Mustafa in the UK on pro-Iranian news websites. Al-Mustafa was sanctioned by the US Treasury for being a recruiting ground for the IRGC.
The college said at the time that claims of its links and that of Dr Jahangir to Al-Mustafa were ‘unfounded’.
Terorism expert Professor Anthony Glees said: ‘This is a serious threat that needs to be addressed. IRGC is behind Hamas and the Houthis, and it is also running these spying networks here. British Iranians need to be very careful when they go back to Iran.’
Last night, the Home Office said: ‘The UK will always stand up to threats from foreign nations. We continually assess potential threats.’