Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports that Press TV is being used to identify and assess individuals in the United Kingdom for potential recruitment by Iranian intelligence services; and what steps she is taking to protect UK residents, including members of the Jewish community and Iranian diaspora in the UK, from such activity.

The Government's first priority is our national security, and we will use all the tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from state threats. Where there is clear evidence that Iranian-linked or aligned organisations are undertaking unacceptable activity, the Government will respond accordingly.

The UK has a comprehensive set of measures to counter threats posed by the Iranian regime. The UK has sanctioned over 550 Iran-linked individuals and entities, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been sanctioned in its entirety.  We have placed the entire Iranian State, including its intelligence agencies – the IRGC and MOIS – on the enhanced tier of  the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS). Any organisation in the UK that fails to declare a registrable arrangement with the Iranian state will be committing a criminal offence punishable by a substantial fine or up to five years in prison.

Furthermore, we engage directly with communities who may be at heightened risk, including members of the Jewish community and the Iranian diaspora. The National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by states.