LFI is launching its latest paper, Partners in crime: The Tehran-Moscow axis of aggression.
In a foreword for the paper – covered in the Telegraph – David Taylor MP says, “The Moscow-Tehran axis helped sustain the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. It is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of men, women and children in Ukraine. And, as the defence secretary, John Healey, has rightly warned, Russia’s “hidden hand” lies behind Iran’s military methods in the conflict between Israel, the US and Iran this spring. Moscow has supplied Tehran with crucial intelligence and targeting information, drones and diplomatic support.”
The paper details the progression of Tehran and Moscow’s alignment – from evading sanctions to supporting one another on the battlfield. It points to the conventional threat posed to Britain by both hostile states, as well as their efforts to sow division and spread hatered in Britain.
In his foreword, Taylor warns, “Like Russia, Iran has sought – and succeeded – in bringing terror to the streets of our country; it seeks to recruit operatives on our shores; and it has attempted to meddle in our democratic process while launching cyberattacks and waves of dangerous and divisive disinformation. Moreover, as we have graphically seen in recent weeks, Iran has deployed proxies in the UK to target British Jews, leading to the appalling upsurge in antisemitic attacks to which the community has been subjected.”
The paper goes on to argue that while there is no doubt that the government has recognised the Iranian threat – including through taking forward new powers to proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – the same systematic approach which the UK has taken to address the Russian threat has not yet been applied to Iran.
To counter this dual threat, improve our resilience and demonstrate our resolve, the UK government should:
- Adopt the same, comprehensive sanctions regime against Iran as it has toward Russia, working closely with allies to mirror sanctions against the depth and breadth of Iran’s political, military and economic sectors.
- Identify and dismantle the soft influence networks in the UK which Tehran uses to advance its objectives under the cover of cultural, academic, charitable and media activity. Specifically, as it has with Russia, the UK should sanction all of Iran’s propaganda platforms and close down all opportunities for the Islamic Republic to continue its information warfare against the UK. It should further end Iran’s malign network in the charitable sector and carry out a China-style review to uncover the extent of its web of influence.
- To demonstrate our firm resolve against the regime’s threats, the UK should, as it has with Russia, use every opportunity to isolate Iran through international institutions and bilateral diplomacy. This should include expelling Iran’s ambassador and other diplomats, as well as the supreme leader’s representative in the UK.
