Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is actively grooming men living in Britain to serve as operatives, using social media and online networks to spread its reach across the UK, according to a bombshell report published by the Daily Express.

A specific IRGC unit is reportedly building a patchwork of sleeper cells and lone-wolf agents designed to harass, surveil, and potentially attack Iranian dissidents, Jewish targets, and Israeli nationals on British soil.

“In Britain it’s not quite sleeper cells, it’s more the co-ordination of useful idiots… a lot of people who like the regime in Iran and want to do their dirty work for them,” said Andreas Krieg, a security expert at King’s College London. “Iran’s most powerful weapon is not ballistic missiles, but this network — not just in Britain but across the world. The biggest threat from Iran is not a nuclear missile, it is on Britain’s streets.”

Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency has already responded to 20 Iran-linked terror plots since 2022, the report revealed. The UK Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) warned earlier this year that Iran has attempted at least 15 kidnappings or assassinations of individuals in the UK, targeting Jewish leaders and anti-regime activists.

The threats are not limited to physical attacks. Iran has deployed offensive cyber operations, espionage campaigns, and influence networks operating under the guise of cultural and educational centers across Britain. These facilities, the government admits, have in some cases been used to spread “violent and extremist ideology.”

The UK government, in a formal response to Parliament’s ISC report, has labeled Iran a “core security priority” and placed the “whole of the Iranian state” on the highest level of scrutiny under the new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).

The FIRS law, introduced in July, forces registration of any activity carried out on behalf of a foreign power. Under its enhanced tier, anyone working under Iran’s direction without registering faces up to five years in prison.

Britain has also warned Tehran directly that any future attacks on UK soil will be treated as “an attack on the United Kingdom itself” and met with retaliation.

The ISC report noted that Iran does not consider attacks on dissidents or Jewish targets abroad as “attacks on the host country,” but as extensions of its internal suppression strategy. The government has rejected that framing, making clear that such operations are hostile acts against Britain.

The UK has also raised concerns about Iranian-linked cyber operations targeting critical infrastructure, citing reports of Tehran-backed hackers striking water facilities in Israel. Officials warned that similar operations could be directed at British infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the possibility of further escalation remains. The government acknowledged that volatility in the Middle East could force a sudden evacuation of UK nationals if tensions with Iran spiral into open confrontation.

“This threat must not be underestimated,” the government said in its statement, underscoring that Tehran’s combination of terrorism, espionage, and propaganda makes it one of the most complex security challenges facing the UK today.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)