Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Image: AP)
Iran is deliberately overwhelming British counter-terror agencies with a stream of low-cost, deniable threats in a calculated bid to stretch MI5 and police resources to breaking point, it has been claimed. “This isn’t about success or precision anymore. They don’t care if the attack succeeds,” said Omid Shams, who served as operations director at the human rights group Justice for Iran and claims to have seen regime documents about the plot. “Each plot forces British services to respond.”
He claimed Tehran’s aim is no longer simply to silence dissidents but to paralyse the UK’s domestic security posture through volume and disruption. The tactic is underpinned by Tehran’s belief that Britain is unwilling to fund a counter-terror increase. He said: “They think Britain doesn’t want to pay more for its own internal security – and that gives them a green light.” According to a recent Intelligence and Security Committee report, Iran’s “forward defence” doctrine uses proxy groups – from criminal networks to militant organisations – to strike UK targets with deniability.
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The warning comes amid growing concern about overstretched resources.
MI5 director-general Sir Ken McCallum has confirmed that his agency has had to divert staff away from counter-terrorism operations to meet the rising volume of threats from hostile states, including Russia, China and Iran.
In his most recent annual threat briefing, McCallum warned that the service was “having to make tough choices” about where to place its limited personnel, with more attention now going to espionage, cyber attacks and state-backed assassination plots.
Earlier this year, Security Minister Dan Jarvis revealed that the number of state-threat investigations run by MI5 had risen by 48 per cent in a single year.
“That statistic is a stark indication of the increased threat,” he said.
The pressure has been compounded by a 14% funding cut for intelligence agencies, including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.
Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed outside his home in London (Image: X / Social media )
This has already led to a promotions freeze and reduced resourcing at MI5.
At the same time, the Prevent programme in London is being sharply reduced – cut from £6.1 million to £4.5 million this year and expected to fall to £2 million by next April, slashing coverage from 22 boroughs to just 7.
“Right now, the intelligence services are being forced into a purely defensive posture,” said Shams. “Eventually, they will be overwhelmed.”
Shams said his assessment is based on recent Iranian ministerial documents he has seen, which echoed a 2022 foreign ministry leak in which officials discussed using proxy operatives to harass Western nations seen as unwilling to invest in domestic security.
Those fears were echoed in a rare joint statement from the UK, US and a dozen other Western nations last week, which condemned a rising wave of Iranian intelligence activity targeting critics, journalists and officials in Europe and North America.
“We consider these types of attacks, regardless of the target, as violations of our sovereignty,” the statement said.
MI5 headquarters at Thames House, on Millbank in London. (Image: Getty)
McCallum revealed that MI5 and police have tackled 20 potentially lethal Iranian plots since early 2022, mostly aimed at dissidents based in the UK.
One of the most prominent targets is Iran International, the Persian-language news channel headquartered in London.
Its journalists have faced surveillance, threats and, in March this year, the stabbing of reporter Pouria Zeraati.
According to an urgent legal appeal filed to five UN Special Rapporteurs, Iranian intelligence has now escalated its campaign: 45 Iran International journalists and 315 family members across eight countries have received death threats in the past six weeks alone.
The appeal warns this is no longer a case of individual intimidation, but a coordinated and credible threat of mass murder – linked to Tehran’s recent conflict with Israel. That escalation, known as the Twelve-Day War, began on June 13 and marked the first direct exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel.
“Without any justification, Iranian authorities immediately began accusing Iran International journalists of being spies for Israel,” said Shams.
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“It was systematic, it was widespread, and it came with deadlines, with names, with targets.”
This reflects Tehran’s new approach: flooding Western systems with low-cost plots to maximise disruption.
“In the 1980s they sent trained intelligence officers to kill exiles in Paris,” he claimed. “Now they’re using street gangs, Russian mafia, even teenagers recruited online. Sometimes they just offer them money and instructions on Telegram.”
Operations can cost as little as $10,000 (£7,430) to $20,000 (£14,860), and allow Iran to deny involvement while spreading fear.
Shams said Tehran sees the UK as its primary Western adversary – more so than France or the US – and believes that Britain’s Government can be pressured into negotiation if pushed hard enough.
He said: “They succeeded with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other cases. Now they believe that if they create a serious national security crisis, Britain will beg for negotiations.”
He warned that Iran is also exploiting Western legal protections to radicalise communities and shield its activities.
He added: “They use your laws against you. They radicalise under the banner of religion. They hide behind charities and cultural groups.”
While Russia and China are more discreet in their use of foreign repression, Iran’s tactics are louder and riskier.
“Iran is more reckless – but that makes it harder to track and harder to deter.”
