Report claims Iran smuggling agents into UK as migrants

British authorities have intercepted individuals linked to Tehran’s intelligence agencies among those attempting to enter on small boats, claimed a report by The Telegraph.

Home Office officials have used drones and AI-equipped surveillance watchtowers to identify and thwart some of these arrivals.

People smugglers operating on the Continent told the newspaper that the Iranian leadership has allegedly facilitated passage for migrants in camps around Calais in exchange for a future “favour” once they settled in England.

Some trafficking routes between the Middle East and the Channel are allegedly controlled or “owned” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly its Unit 700 logistics arm of the Quds Force.

Suspected operatives are linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

One Iranian official was quoted by The Telegraph as allegedly saying: “At the moment we have people right there in London… they wait for us to tell them what to do. We have not done that yet, but we can easily make London unsafe for you if we want to. These smuggling routes are more important and useful than the missiles for us – we do not need a missile to target London, it’s easier than that.”

A second official claimed Iran had people who could “even target their prime minister’s house.”

Officials noted that the number of threats via small boats is smaller than the volume of IRGC-affiliated individuals entering legally on flights from Europe.

The greater risks were said to involve radicalisation within the Iranian diaspora and proxy networks already in Britain.

Security experts expressed scepticism about Iran’s ability to plant long-term covert agents, suggesting the aim may partly be to sow fear and weaken UK support for operations against Tehran.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he had warned of Iranian operatives crossing by boat months earlier, based on diaspora sources, and faced ridicule at the time.

Shadow Security Minister Alicia Kearns stated: “The Government needs to face facts: the IRGC is exploiting the small boats crisis to put its operatives on British streets. We need an urgent taskforce to root out Iranian agents among those arriving and who’ve arrived on our shores… Tehran is openly threatening Britain and we have a Prime Minister silent on our national security – our people deserve answers, action and leadership.”

The claims emerge amid ongoing Channel crossings (with Iranians historically a significant nationality among arrivals), heightened UK-Iran tensions following the US-‘Israeli’ war, Iranian threats against sites such as RAF Fairford, and prior MI5 warnings about Iranian plots against dissidents and journalists in Britain.

Iranian sources have described the accusations as propaganda.