IRAN’S chilling threat to Britain was today exposed in a bombshell report.
MI5 spies have foiled 15 Iranian “death squad” plots to kill or kidnap Brits since 2022, the dossier revealed.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly speaking in Parliament[/caption]
Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards marching in Tehran[/caption]
According to the landmark review of Britain’s security policy, Iran could pose a threat to the UK for decades.
Just four months ago, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said there had been at least 10 potential plots from Iran “to kidnap or even kill” British citizens and dissidents seen as enemies of the Tehran regime.
He said at the time: “Iran projects threat to the UK directly, through its aggressive intelligence services.
“At its sharpest this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime.
“We have seen at least 10 such potential threats since January alone.”
In today’s refresh of Britain’s blueprint for foreign and defence policy, the government warned the world will become more unstable and dangerous until after the 2030s.
The review said authoritarian and rogue states are challenging the international order and deliberately trying to undermine it.
China’s deepening ties with Russia, and Putin’s growing cooperation with Iran are “two developments of concern”.
The review said risks to national security are now greater than at any time in decades.
Announcing the review in the Commons, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “In our 2023 Integrated Review Refresh we set out how we respond to an even more contested and volatile world.
“Rightly, our approach is an evolution, not a revolution.
“On every continent of the world, the UK walks taller today than it has done for many years.”
But he added: “Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and attempts to annex part of its sovereign territory challenge the entire international order.”
The refresh of the 2021 Integrated Review – ordered under Liz Truss after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – still says Russia is the biggest threat to the UK.
But China is hot on their heels too – pursuing aggression in Taiwan and “threatening to create a world defined by danger, disorder and division”.
Mr Cleverly told parliament China’s size and significance connected it “to almost every global issue”.
“We cannot be blind to the increasingly aggressive military and economic behaviour of the Chinese Communist Party, including stoking tensions across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
When it was first published in 2021, the review described China as a “systemic competitor”.
The document said: “China under the Chinese Communist Party poses an epoch-defining and systemic challenge with implications for almost every area of government policy and the everyday lives of British people.
“It has pursued rapid and opaque military modernisation with huge new investments, militarised disputed islands in the South China Sea, and refused to renounce the use of force to achieve its objectives with regard to Taiwan.”
The unveiling of the updated policy coincides with Rishi Sunak’s visit to San Diego to discuss a landmark defence agreement with the US and Australia.
The PM faces strong backlash from MPs and China-watchers over his soft stance on China.
Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Alicia Kearns said: “The threat of China cannot be seen primarily as an economic one.
“To do so is to fail to recognise that they are trying to undermine our security and our sovereignty.”
The UK’s defence ministry will be given £5billion over the next two years to face an “increasingly volatile and complex world”.
Mr Sunak said: “As the world becomes more volatile and competition between states becomes more intense, the UK must be ready to stand our ground.
“By investing in our armed forces for the long-term, we will be ready for the challenges of today and of the future.
“The UK will remain a leading contributor to NATO and a reliable international partner, standing up for our values from Ukraine to the South China Seas.
“We have seen all too clearly in the last year how global crises impact us at home, with Russia’s appalling invasion of Ukraine driving up energy and food prices.
“We will fortify our national defences, from economic security to technology supply chains and intelligence expertise, to ensure we are never again vulnerable to the actions of a hostile power.”