OPINION: It is time to make Britain a Khamenei-free zone
Iran poses a clear and present danger to the Jewish community, the Iranian diaspora, and wider British society
Last year, the Iranian regime celebrated the 45th anniversary of the revolution which brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power and ushered in more than four decades of brutal repression at home and the export of violence and terror across the Middle East and beyond.
The ayatollahs have rather less to celebrate this year. Tehran’s two most powerful proxies – Hamas and Hezbollah – have been severely weakened as a result of their terrorist attacks against Israel; Iran’s attacks on the Jewish state appears to have led to the destruction of much of its air defence system; and the Assad regime – the cornerstone of Tehran’s strategy to encircle and destroy Israel – has fallen.
Domestically, anger is growing among an already restive population which has borne the vast cost of the regime’s shattered neo-imperialist ambitions.
But the threat posed by Iran remains potent – to Britain and our allies both in Europe and the region.
Tehran commands the biggest ballistic arsenal in the Middle East – with a range that can reach NATO and EU territory – and its nuclear programme is on the threshold of producing a nuclear weapon. Its alliance with Russia and China is aiding Putin’s war against Ukraine, providing the Kremlin’s war machine with drones and missiles to terrorise Ukrainian civilians. And its support for the Houthis endangers freedom of shipping and international trade, as well as threatening our ally Israel with escalating attacks.
Moreover, United Against A Nuclear Iran’s new campaign presents deeply concerning evidence of Khamenei’s pernicious network here in the UK, which seeks to promote the regime’s violent and extremist ideology, foster antisemitism and hatred, and stoke community tensions.
This poses a clear and present danger to the Jewish community, the Iranian diaspora, and wider British society. We have already seen its impact in soaring antisemitism and extremism on our streets, the targeting of journalists and dissidents, and the 20 terror plots uncovered by MI5 since 2022 linked to the regime.
As the director-general of the security service, Ken McCallum warned last autumn: “Since the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022 we’ve seen plot after plot here in the UK, at an unprecedented pace and scale.” Like its Russian allies, the regime, he added, frequently uses criminals – “from international drug traffickers to low-level crooks” – to carry out its dirty work.
LFI (Labour Friends of Israel) has long warned of this danger and called for a robust and coordinated government response – one which recognise our duty to strengthen regional peace and prosperity and fight anti-Zionist antisemitism here at home.
First, we welcome the government’s increased sanctions on the IRGC and believe we must now ban Tehran’s terror army – the ideological vanguard and driving force behind the regime’s noxious agenda overseas and the chief perpetrator of its bloodshed at home.
Second, we should go further in sanctioning the regime’s leadership, using the Magnitsky sanction regime to target human rights abusers who suppress women, minorities and the Iranian people’s legitimate demand for “life and freedom”.
Third, we should counter Iran’s support for radicalisation, ban entry permits to Iranian extremists, and close ideological centres which seek to propagate the regime’s violent and extremist ideology.
Fourth, we should combat and disrupt the threat posed by Iranian-linked platforms which spread disinformation and hatred.
Finally, we should identify and sanction Iranian regime oligarchs, elites and proxies in the UK, treating them in the same manner as those of Putin’s regime.
This is an agenda for national security and international solidarity. One which keeps our country and its people safe, while also seeking to stand alongside our allies in Ukraine, Israel and the wider Middle East, and show the Iranian people that their voices are being heard here in the UK and we stand with them in their long fight for freedom. It is time to make Britain a Khamenei Free Zone.
- Jon Pearce, parliamentary chair, Labour Friends of Israel
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