Iran has been accused of stoking protests outside schools and on the streets of the UK.
A new report has highlighted a series of protests condemning apparent instances of blasphemy, linking them to the alleged influence of the Islamic Republic regime on British Muslims.
A paper published by the think tank Policy Exchange says MI5 must reinstate "counter-subversion operations" to deal with the threat posed by Tehran.
The report claimed the Islamic Centre of England (ICE), which is run by a direct representative of Iran’s supreme leader, was the "nerve centre" of Iran’s presence in the UK, arguing that Iran uses the ICE and other institutions across the UK to project soft power and influence, with increasing numbers.
The Islamic Centre of England, in Maida Vale in London
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The report has called on the government to tackle 'Iranian subversion'
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Two events had been highlighted by the report demonstrating the presence of Iran in the UK.
The first was the demonstrations that took place over the controversial The Lady Of Heaven film in 2022. The other was the protests taking place outside Batley Grammar School where a teacher was forced into hiding as a result of abuse and threats.
ICE, which states its charitable purpose as advancing the religion of Islam and education and the provision of social and religious welfare facilities, is at the centre of a statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission.
The watchdog launched its inquiry in November 2022 after issuing the charity with an official warning in 2020 when two events at the centre 'eulogised' Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was subject to UK sanctions and killed in a US air strike.
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Protesters gathered outside Batley Grammar School in Batley, West Yorkshire
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Inside the Islamic Centre of England, in Maida Vale in London
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Head of security and extremism at the think tank Dr Paul Stott told GB News: "What our report focuses on is a whole series of issues relating to Iran and its intent and its approach towards the UK.
"The modern campaigns against blasphemy originate with the Rushdie affair with the fatwah on Salman Rushdie, the Iranian government issued in 1989. I'm afraid those problems have continued as the fatwa was never rescinded.
"In 2022 we saw a series of protest outside cinemas for a film The Lady of Medina was accused of blasphemy.
"It can be very hard to imagine without that impetus that comes from Iranian actors and we don't really have a policy for dealing with this. That is one of the things we're calling for to look much more seriously as what we call 'Iranian subversion'."
Sir Salman Rushdie was attacked in 2022
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The UK has a long-standing policy of issuing visas for Iranian clerics to work in Britain, it says, claiming 100 such visas were handed out between 2005 and 2022.
The report also hit out at MI5 for apparently abandoning its "core task" of counter-subversion at a time when Iran is trying "to influence political, religious, educational or cultural organisations, or shape contemporary protest movements, to its own ends."
Dr Stott added: "Iran challenges our security, but it also threatens the UK's social cohesion and our values. Allowing it to build and sustain an infrastructure in this country is madness.
"We need to get much smarter in our response, and that starts with proper control of the visa system."
