First the boats, then China Spy embassy, now an open Iranian Spy hub in London
Iran’s English language broadcaster has been sanctioned in the EU, the US, Australia and Canada, so what is it with Starmer and ignoring our own national security?
This failure of Starmer to undertake the very basics of a government, keeping its citizens safe and putting them first, seems to be am impossibility as we see yet another blatant display of weakness. The Telegraph have revealed that an Iranian spy recruitment hub is operating openly in London.
Ministers have been explicitly warned that Tehran is exploiting Britain’s permissive environment to run intelligence gathering and propaganda operations on British soil. This comes on top of the government’s refusal to proscribe and ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its earlier decision to approve the Chinese mega-embassy despite clear security risks. British residents are being put at risk, and the government’s response is silence and inaction.
The Iranian Spy Recruitment Hub Exposed
The hub centres on Press TV, the English-language arm of Iran’s state broadcaster, which maintains a studio in London even though its UK broadcast licence was revoked more than a decade ago. According to sources who spoke to The Telegraph, Press TV serves as a front to identify and cultivate intelligence assets. Journalists linked to the channel have been accused of spotting and assessing potential recruits for the Iranian regime.
Its programming has reportedly singled out Jewish charities, schools and community organisations in ways that amount to a target list for these terrorists. This is not an abstract threat. It aligns with a pattern of Iranian activity already disrupting UK security in the last few months;
In early March 2026, four men (including Iranian and dual British/Iranian nationals) were arrested in north London on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service by conducting surveillance on Jewish sites, the Israeli Embassy and other targets.
Two men were later charged under the National Security Act with gathering information and carrying out reconnaissance for Iran’s intelligence services.
The UK summoned the Iranian ambassador in response, yet no decisive domestic action has followed.
MI5 has already disrupted at least 10 Iranian backed plots in the UK since 2022, and the threat level remains high. London has undoubtably become a permissive base for a hostile foreign power.
The Government’s Refusal to Ban the IRGC
The spy hub operates against a backdrop of the government’s continued refusal to proscribe the IRGC. The IRGC is the Iranian regime’s ideological army, responsible for terrorism, espionage and proxy violence worldwide. Former intelligence chiefs and MPs, including Iain Duncan Smith, have urged proscription as a necessary step to restrain its activity in Britain. A group of ex-intelligence directors wrote in The Telegraph that the government’s hesitancy leaves the UK strategically exposed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly stated that proscription powers “are not designed for a state organisation” and that the matter remains under review. The UK has imposed sanctions on the IRGC in its entirety but stops short of a full ban, citing legal and diplomatic concerns. This is despite calls from allies such as Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which have all taken stronger action. The result is a green light for Iranian operatives to operate with reduced fear of legal consequences in our country.
The Parallel Failure Over the Chinese Mega-Embassy
This Iranian scandal is not isolated. In January, Labour government approved plans for China’s vast new mega spy embassy near the Tower of London that will intensify surveillance and intimidation of dissidents and the Chinese diaspora. Despite objections from everyone including Labour MPs, the Metropolitan Police (initially) and local residents, Housing Secretary Steve Reed gave the go-ahead days before Starmer’s visit to Beijing, nothing to see there obviously! Security experts including ourselves highlighted risks of espionage and foreign influence, yet economic and diplomatic priorities prevailed and betrayal of the British people ensued.
It’s just appalling. One hostile state’s spy hub is tolerated, another’s diplomatic fortress is rubber-stamped. The message to adversaries is unmistakable. Britain is open for business, even when that business is espionage and against the interests of the British people.
The Challenges Posed by This Permissive Environment
The government’s approach creates several direct dangers to public safety:
Recruitment and radicalisation: Press TV’s activities and social media channels linked to Iranian operatives are already targeting vulnerable individuals, including British teenagers, with offers of payment for surveillance tasks.
Escalating plots: Recent arrests confirm active Iranian reconnaissance of Jewish and Israeli targets in London. MI5 warnings show this is part of a wider campaign that includes proxy attacks and disruption.
Eroded deterrence: Without proscription of the IRGC or decisive action against fronts such as Press TV, the UK signals weakness. Hostile states face minimal cost for operating here.
Resource strain: Counter terrorism police and MI5 are left playing catch-up while ministers delay the legal tools needed to shut down these networks at source.
British families, Jewish communities and dissidents living here deserve better than to be treated as collateral in a policy of diplomatic caution.
Only Restore Britain Offers Real Resolution
This is not isolated incompetence. It is a pattern of putting foreign interests and diplomatic niceties ahead of British security. The current government has failed to ban the IRGC, failed to close the Press TV spy hub and failed to block the Chinese mega-embassy. Each decision leaves ordinary residents more exposed.
Restore Britain would approach these threats differently. Our policies place British security first. We would immediately prioritise the deportation of illegal migrants and foreign nationals who pose risks, including those from Iran and other hostile states. Rupert Lowe has made this explicit, a Restore Britain government would deploy the full power of the state to remove millions of illegal entrants, starting on day one, rather than entangle itself in foreign wars or permissive environments that invite espionage. As he stated in March, our flagship policy is mass efficient deportations of those here illegally, combined with integration requirements for those here legally. Anyone who fails to contribute and respect our way of life would face removal. We would not tolerate spy hubs or mega-embassies that undermine our nations sovereignty.
Rupert Lowe has repeatedly warned against unnecessary foreign entanglements while insisting Britain must control its borders and protect its people. The Iranian spy hub and the IRGC threat are exactly the sort of national security failures that Restore Britain’s deportation first, Britain-first agenda is designed to end. Only by electing a government prepared to act ruthlessly in the national interest can we close these hubs, proscribe the IRGC and restore safety to our streets. The alternative is more weakness, more risk and more betrayal of the British people.