Iran’s network of UK ‘cultural institutions’ must be closed

The Tehran regime is threatening British citizens at home and more must be done to combat the threat

The UK Government has finally decided to get tough in tackling aggressive Iranian terrorism carried out on British soil. But is Downing Street overlooking a network of extremist cultural institutions hiding in plain sight?

In the coming weeks, the UK may terror-list Iran’s most feared military organisation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This impending decision follows Tehran’s execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari this month – the first such execution of a dual national by Tehran since the 1980s.

MI5 director general Ken McCallum recently confirmed that Iranian agents had planned 10 attacks on British soil in 2022, including plots to kidnap and murder British or UK-based individuals. Rishi Sunak has admitted that the Government is spending an increasing amount of time countering Iran’s malign activities in Britain.

Designating the IRGC a terror group is a commendable and necessary step. On its own, however, this gesture will not be sufficient to stifle the regime’s campaign of terror and intimidation. Tehran’s covert operations infrastructure extends far beyond the IRGC. As a new policy paper from United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) lays bare, the Iranian regime has for years actively run a number of influential institutions with bricksand-mortar presence in the UK, part of its worldwide network of “cultural” organisations. The overarching goal of these institutions is to amplify the regime’s anti-Western ideology and nurture a base of loyal adherents to advance the regime’s aims. There are at least four such institutions with an active UK presence.

Most controversial is the Islamic Centre of England (ICEL), the representative office of Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although ICEL’s stated mission is merely to “provide spiritual and ethical guidance for the Muslim community”, the centre is currently under active investigation by the Charity Commission over “serious governance concerns”.

This is not the first time UK regulators have had to intervene. In 2020, an official warning was issued after ICEL held a vigil for Qasem Soleimani. As the former commander of Iran’s Quds Force, the IRGC unit responsible for foreign operations, including coordination with terror groups, Soleimani had the blood of British troops on his hands.

Despite these concerns, ICEL’s UK office received in excess of £100,000 in grants as part of the Government’s support for businesses during Covid.

Tehran’s network of UK-based cultural institutions may be about much more than propaganda. These institutions could act as a conduit for Iran to embed IRGC and intelligence

The Iranian regime has for years actively run influential institutions with bricks-and-mortar presence in the UK

operatives in the UK. One such institution is the Islamic College, whose courses are accredited by Middlesex University; it has reported links to Iran’s Al Mustafa International University, which is under US counter-terrorism sanctions for serving as a recruitment arm for the IRGC’s Quds Force.

There is a growing consensus across the political spectrum in the UK that the time has come to match robust rhetoric with stringent action. The ongoing threat of Iranian agents carrying out deadly missions in Britain clearly requires comprehensive measures. It is time to root out Tehran’s network of so-called cultural institutions.