Iran is “stirring the pot of religious prejudice” by fueling protests outside schools and on the streets of Britain, a new report has warned British intelligence services.
The article from think tank Policy Exchange says MI5 must resume ‘counter-subversion operations’ to tackle the threat asked by Tehran.
It highlighted a series of protests condemning apparent cases of blasphemy linked to the Islamic Republic regime’s alleged influence over British Muslims.
Two of the issues discussed were the Batley Grammar School protests in 2021 and the demonstrations over the film The Lady Of Heaven in 2022, which according to Policy Exchange “indicate that de facto blasphemy codes could be enforced on the streets if protesters undertake to do this. So’.
Dr. Paul Stott, head of security and extremism at the think tank, told The Times that Iran has “fostered an atmosphere where anything that smacks of blasphemy leads to intimidation.”
Research shows that ICEL’s director was appointed by Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei (pictured), suggesting that the center is “not just a barren, barren religious institution” but rather “sits at the center of a substantial network of Iranian influence operations within this country’
In 2021, protests were held outside the gates of Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire
Controversy: Poster for the film The Lady Of Heaven
Some cinemas made the decision to pull the film from theaters after the backlash. Pictured: Cineworld in Birmingham
The report goes on to say that Iran is threatening Britain’s security and values by sending radical regime-sponsored clerics to a ‘nerve centre’ in west London.
The hardline Islamic republic of Iran has spent decades ‘curating a political-religious infrastructure in Britain’, targeting the Islamic Center of England (ICEL) – a registered British charity based in a converted cinema in Maida Vale, it has been revealed. according to a study by Policy Exchange.
It suggests Iran is using the center as a base to “undermine our values and impose codes of blasphemy.”
It says ICEL’s director was appointed by Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei, suggesting the center “is not just a dry, barren religious institution” but rather “sits at the center of a substantial network of Iranian influence operations in this country’.
In 2021, there were protests in cinemas by Muslims claiming that the film The Lady of Heaven is ‘blasphemous’. In the photo: Birmingham
ICEL, which lists its charitable objects as promoting the religion of Islam and education and providing social and religious welfare benefits, is at the center of a statutory investigation by the Charity Commission.
The watchdog launched its investigation in November 2022 after giving the charity an official warning in 2020 when two events at the center “praises” Iranian military commander General Qasem Soleimani, who was subject to British sanctions and was killed in a US airstrike.
A series of senior clerics trained by and loyal to the Iranian regime have been able to travel freely between Tehran and London – even as Iran has jailed British citizens such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Britain,” said.
Britain has long had a policy of granting visas to Iranian clerics to work in Britain, the country says. It is claimed that 100 such visas were issued between 2005 and 2022.
The report also took aim at MI5 for apparently abandoning its ‘core mission’ of counter-subversion at a time when Iran is seeking to ‘influence political, religious, educational or cultural organisations, or shape contemporary protest movements, for its own purposes’ .
ICEL, which lists its charitable objects as promoting the religion of Islam and education and providing social and religious welfare benefits, is at the center of a statutory investigation by the Charity Commission. In the photo: Iran’s Supreme Leader and Iranian clerics
It adds: ‘The idea that Iran is trying to influence British Muslims, and that it may be someone’s job to stop this, has not been openly put forward by the security service.’
Policy Exchange urged the Home Secretary to direct the Home Office and the Security Service to take urgent action to counter Iranian subversion in Britain.
It also called for a crackdown on the issuance of British visas to hardline clerics and Iranians who come to work at ICEL and any associated institutions.
Report author Dr Paul Stott said: ‘Iran is challenging our security, but it also threatens Britain’s social cohesion and our values. It is madness to allow the country to build and maintain infrastructure in this country.
‘We have to respond much smarter, and that starts with good control of the visa system.’