New report sets out UK charity links to the Iranian regime
Eight of the 10 charities identified are reportedly under active charity commission investigation
A new report from the government’s former independent advisor on Political Violence and Disruption has highlighted multiple UK charities which it says have significant links to the Iranian regime – and has warned that the current “compliance-based regulatory framework” of the charity commission limits the UK’s ability “to respond proportionately to hostile, state-aligned ideological influences operating through civil society channels”.
“Undue Influence”, published by Lord Walney this week, details how a number of different groups with charitable status operating in the UK have had senior figures associated with them who “have held senior positions within Iranian regime-linked clerical and policymaking institutions.”
In one case highlighted in the report, that of the Islamic Centre of England, the organisation contained “a formal constitutional provision previously required that one trustee must be appointed by the Supreme Leader at all times”, before being required by the charity commission to alter that provision. Eight of the 10 charities identified are under active charity commission investigation, although the public has reportedly only been made aware of four such investigations. Of the 10 charities, four are also recognised for Gift Aid, enabling them to claim an additional 25p from the government for every £1 they receive.
Alleged links between the Iranian regime and the charities in question made in the report include connections to regime institutions, organising events with senior members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and with either trustees or some of the charities themselves praising the actions of Iranian regime officials.
The report contains a series of recommendations designed to strengthen the ability of the Charity commission to counter what Walney describes as “modern forms of abuse in the charity sector”. These include expanding its disqualification powers “to include individuals subject to immigration orders and those identified as hostile state agents”, expediting extremism-related investigations, enhancing transparency for the public and setting up a vetting mechanism “to exclude charities with unresolved extremism concerns from receiving Gift Aid and UK Aid Match”.
Writing in the Sun on Sunday, Lord Walney described how “Iran’s cheerleaders have become deeply embedded in the British charity sector.
“They build networks, spread regime narratives and embed sympathetic organisations inside British civil society.
This soft power push is not separate from the violent threat. It systematically excuses and normalises it. And it helps create the environment in which hostile activity can flourish.”
The full report can be read here.
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