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 his polices of levels of (a) presence and activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the UK and (b) potential threats to Iranian dissidents and UK-based journalists.

We do not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats. The UK Government continually assesses potential threats to the UK and its residents and will continue to take the protection of individuals’ rights, freedoms and safety in the UK very seriously.

Last month, I announced new measures to tackle state threats from Iran. This included our intention to place the Iranian state, including Iran’s Intelligence Services, the IRGC and MOIS, on the Enhanced Tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS). I also announced new training for all frontline police officers on state threats; further sanctions against Iranian-linked criminal groups; an independent review of the parts of our counter-terrorism framework which could be applied to state threats; continued support to the Jewish community; and strengthened enforcement of our immigration measures to protect the UK from Iranian interference. Finally, the National Protective Security Authority and Counter Terrorism Policing will continue to provide protective security advice and support to individuals and organisations threatened by the Iranian regime and its criminal proxies, including Persian language media organisations.

The Government's top priority is our national security, and we will continue to use all appropriate tools at our disposal to protect the UK, and its people, from any Iran-linked threats.