Iran smuggling agents to UK as Channel migrants in exchange for ‘favours’ | UK | News
A smuggler said most migrants were fleeing poverty and would do whatever was asked of them (Image: Getty)
Iran has been accused of using human smuggling routes across the Channel to transport suspected undercover agents to the UK, it has been revealed. Individuals with alleged links to Tehran’s intelligence agencies were caught by UK authorities trying to enter the country in small boats; People smugglers have claimed the Iranian regime facilitated the migrants’ journey from camps around Calais in exchange for a future “favor” once they settled in Britain.
According to Tehran officials, some smuggling routes allegedly belong to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and suspected agents affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security are using these routes to reach the UK.
An Iranian official told Telegram: “We have people in London right now, revolutionary people who care about the world and the lives of children, waiting for us to tell them what to do. We haven’t done that yet, but we could easily make London unsafe for you if we wanted to.”
“These smuggling routes are more important and useful to us than missiles; we don’t need missiles to target London, it’s easier than that.”
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly ‘owns’ part of human trafficking routes (Image: Getty)
The report comes after Iran threatened to target RAF Fairford following Andy Burnham’s decision to renew US permission to use the base for air strikes.
Interior Ministry officials had used unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence-equipped watchtowers to help identify Iranian-linked individuals arriving by small boat. However, authorities reportedly believe that people linked to the Revolutionary Guard are more likely to have entered the UK legally from Europe rather than crossing the Channel.
MI5 director-general Ken McCallum warned in October that the agency had pursued “more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots” over the previous year, adding that Tehran had “made extensive use of criminals”, including drug traffickers, to conduct operations in the UK.
An Iranian smuggler told The Telegraph: “We don’t know the measurement, but some of the money is definitely going to them. It’s an ordinary, normal route that people follow, but it’s run in the background by the Iranian government.”
A second smuggler added: “As far as I can see and tell you it’s all drugs, but of course you [Iran] Having the route is a huge advantage; you can do whatever you want.
“For England, you hang out in a park in Calais or Dunkirk, then you are approached by someone who works for Iran but doesn’t know about it, and in less than a week you’re on a boat to London.
“Many of these people are fleeing poverty and will do whatever is asked of them once they arrive in the UK. [in exchange] For a cheaper trip.”
A record 165 migrants reportedly crossed the Channel to the UK on a single boat on Thursday. This broke the previous record set in July, when 128 people crossed from France to England on a single ship.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Our first priority is national security. There are strict security checks for those arriving in small boats. Those identified as a threat will be detained immediately and we will do everything we can to eliminate them at the first opportunity.
“Alongside these robust processes, we also quickly implemented a change in the law that bans support for the Revolutionary Guard, gives the police and intelligence services greater authority to harass those working on their behalf, and makes it easier to prosecute them.”
