Britain warns of Iran's escalating threat to national security

British lawmakers say Iran poses a significant and wide-ranging threat to Britain, adding that although Iran is not on the same level as Russia or China, it poses a growing threat and the government is not fully prepared for it.

The Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament said in a report released on Thursday that the threat posed by Iran ranges from the risk of carrying out actual attacks on dissidents and potential assassinations of opponents to attacks on Jewish targets, espionage, offensive cyber capabilities, and attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

Committee chairman Kevan Jones said in a statement, "Iran is present in all forms and types of threats that we should be concerned about." He added, "We remain concerned that the government's policy towards Iran has focused on crisis management and is primarily driven by concerns related to the Iranian nuclear program, leading to the exclusion of other issues."

The Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament stated that the British government should fully consider whether it is practically possible to ban the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a measure that some lawmakers have been calling for for a long time.

Although the evidence presented to the committee ends in August 2023, lawmakers said their recommendations on the actions the government should take are still valid.