Iran’s IRGC is allegedly grooming men of Middle Eastern and Eastern European origin in Britain to form sleeper cells and lone-wolf operatives, according to a UK report.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are recruiting men of Middle Eastern and Eastern European origin living in Britain to become terrorists via online grooming, The Daily Express claimed on Friday.
According to its report, a specific branch of the IRGC is using the internet and social media to create a network of sleeper cells andlone-wolf operatives across the UK.
“In Britain it’s not quite sleeper cells, it’s more the coordination of useful idiots… a lot of people who like the regime in Iran and want to do their dirty work for them,” Andreas Krieg, Associate Professor of Security Studies at King’s College, in London, told the Express.
“Iran’s strategy generally is a network strategy, a mosaic. The most powerful weapon Iran has 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,” he added.
The Daily Express explained that Britain’s security services monitor the movements of these sleeper cells and agents. MI5 reported that it has responded to 20 Iran-backed terror plots since 2022.
Much of the work done by the agents is centered on surveillance and harassment of Iranian dissidents or Israeli nationals, Krieg added.
UK government responds to Iran report
The day before the Express article, on September 4, the UK government published its response to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament’s (ISC) report on Iran, which was released in July 2025.
The July ISC report revealed that Iran has targeted prominent Jewish individuals across at least 15 attempts to kill or abduct people in the UK. The committee said the Iranian threat varied from physical attacks on and potential assassinations of dissidents and Jewish targets, to espionage, offensive cyber capabilities, and its attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
Now, in response, the UK government said it deems Iran to be a “core security priority,” adding that “addressing these complex challenges remains a strategic focus for the Government.”
The government response notes that Iran does not view attacks on dissident, Jewish, and Israeli targets in the UK as attacks on the UK, but rather as collateral in its handling of internal matters on UK soil. As a result, the government said it “will make it clear to Iran – at every opportunity – that such attacks would indeed constitute an attack on the UK and would receive the appropriate response.”
Speaking on Iran’s use of espionage, particularly that in the cyber domain, the government stressed that “any attempt by a foreign power to conduct espionage in the UK will not be tolerated” and that anyone seeking to conduct hostile acts against the UK or steal information for commercial advantage is liable to prosecution for offences under the National Security Act 2023.”
The response also highlighted the potential threat from pro-Iran cultural and educational centers across the UK, which “have been used to promote violent and extremist ideology.”
“This threat must not be underestimated,” the response stressed.
The government announced that it is doing extensive work to investigate and prevent such threats, and is looking into “vectors of concern, including cultural centres and educational facilities, that may have links to the Iranian regime or support their political objectives.” It cited the introduction of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) on July 1, 2025, which employs a double-pronged approach to counter such threats.
First, it requires registration of any arrangements to carry out political influence activities in the UK on behalf of a foreign power, and secondly, an enhanced tier requires the registration of all arrangements to carry out activities directed by the Iranian state in the UK. Anyone who does not register faces up to five years in prison.
The government noted that the enhanced tier can be applied to activities directed by foreign powers considered to pose a risk to the UK’s safety or interests, and thus “The whole of the Iranian state has been placed on the enhanced tier.”
In terms of domestic interference, the government said that Iran has an overall negligible effect on UK public opinion. Common techniques used by the regime to cause domestic interference include the suppression of critical voices, the promotion of views that align with its own geopolitical narratives and religious ideology, and state-funded media platforms.
“Whilst the UK is a high priority target for Iranian interference activity due to its role in multilateral negotiations relating to Iran and the presence of several Iranian language news outlets in the UK which are critical of the regime, it is not as important as the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, or other Middle Eastern states.”
In terms of concerns in the Middle East proper, the UK government said there is a possible – though unlikely – chance that the British Embassy in Tehran may be attacked. It also warned that “given the volatility of the situation, the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation by Iran, and the possibility for rapid escalation, it is not unrealistic to think that at some point it could become necessary to evacuate UK nationals in the region.”
It also noted with concern that Iranian cyber actors reportedly targeted water facilities in Israel.