“They told me: ‘We’re going to kill you. We’re going to make you silent.’” Iranian activist Ellie Borhan says that for her, London is no longer safe. Borhan came to London from Iran 20 years ago, to build a life she once saw as a sanctuary and safety, beyond the reach of the Iranian state. That sense of distance, she says, has disappeared. She now feels she is at high risk. By spending the past four years campaigning against the Iranian regime, both from the UK and internationally through organisations including the UN, she has drawn attention and surveillance from Tehran — and while responsive, there is only so much that the British authorities can do about it.
The messages targeting Borhan, which started in 2022, arrived in waves through WhatsApp and anonymous accounts on Instagram, referencing locations, routines and people close to her. The threats extended beyond her.
“They were sending so many threatening messages,” she says. “They were targeting not only me but people supporting our group, finding out where they live.”
Borhan is not the only Londoner who says they have been targeted by alleged Iranian-linked intimidation. Others describe campaigns ranging from online harassment and threats to physical confrontations.
Activists, journalists and security experts describe a broader pattern: London has become both a centre for Iranian opposition activity and a place where critics of Tehran increasingly report intimidation, surveillance and threats linked to the regime. Senior counter-terrorism officers say they have for years been dealing with Iran-linked threats against individuals and Persian language media organisations in Britain, including several disrupted plots, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Dan Jarvis, the security minister, has also warned that the threat is not only physical. The National Cyber Security Centre has identified malicious cyber activity linked to actors affiliated with the Iranian state.
Tensions have escalated as a result of the recent increase in sustained anti-regime demonstrations outside Westminster, Downing Street and the Iranian Embassy. Protesters say the growing visibility of the movement has been accompanied by a rise in intimidation and threats, intensified further since the escalation of the Israel-US conflict with Iran which began in February this year.
Some demonstrators say they have been photographed or followed. Others report receiving calls warning them they are being monitored. Police have advised some activists to vary their routines.
For Borhan, anonymity is no longer possible. “Right now, I don’t feel safe,” she says. “Everyone knows what I do.”
The long arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is among the most powerful military and intelligence organisations in Iran, playing a central role in domestic security and the export of the regime’s ideology abroad. Critics describe it as one of the regime’s main tools for suppressing dissent, with human rights groups accusing it of involvement in the deaths and mass detention of protesters in recent years. The organisation has faced repeated criticism from Western governments, including the United States and the European Union, most recently over its reported role in the violent suppression of demonstrations earlier this year.
Demonstrators march from BBC Broadcasting House to Downing Street during the National March for a Free Iran
Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images
Members of the Iranian diaspora in London now say they are living under growing fear from individuals they believe are linked to the IRGC or sympathetic to the regime. Since mass anti-regime protests erupted in Iran earlier this year, demonstrations have taken place almost every weekend outside Downing Street, the Iranian Embassy and the US Embassy. Protesters have repeatedly called on the UK government to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
“There is a real threat facing them and their families,” says Rashad Ali, senior fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and a counter-terrorism expert. “There have been Iranians intimidated by the regime in London. Threatened and coerced into silence or support, with threats to their families in Iran.”
Ali says the reach of the threat extends far beyond Iran’s borders. “IRGC people, often their families and children live in the West. Our intelligence services have spoken of over 20 plots over the past two years being foiled. This makes the threat not just real but actual; they are almost certainly monitoring the Iranian diaspora in London.”
In 2022, following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in Iran, Borhan founded the Stage of Freedom group, organising demonstrations and advocacy campaigns across Britain. Since then, she says, her sense of security has fundamentally changed. “When I came here, I felt safe,” she says. “I felt I was in a democratic country where you could speak openly. But now, especially because of my activism, I don’t feel safe.”
London has long attracted Iranian exiles, including journalists, political dissidents and activists. Persian language broadcasters, advocacy groups and diaspora organisations have established strong networks in the capital, giving the city a prominent role in shaping opposition voices outside Iran.
But many within the community say that visibility comes at a cost. “It’s systematic,” says a British Iranian journalist, speaking anonymously. “It’s about reminding people that distance does not mean safety.”
“One day I opened my letterbox and found something shocking: an Iranian state newspaper had been delivered inside,” he continues. “It was their way of showing they knew exactly where I lived.”
The journalist says he reported the incident to police. The intimidation, he says, extended to his family in Iran. “My father was summoned by the intelligence arm of the IRGC. He was warned that if I continued my work as a journalist in London, I wouldn’t stay alive.” The threats were explicit. “They told my father that one day perhaps a car might simply run me over.”
An Iranian embassy campaign, plots and intimidation
Iran’s embassy in London recently issued a statement encouraging UK-based supporters to join what it described as a “martyrdom” initiative, prompting concern among both Iranians and non-Iranians critical of the regime. In messages published on its website and social media channels, “proud Iranian compatriots residing in Britain” were invited to register for the “Jan Fada”, or “sacrificing life”, campaign. The appeal called on “all brave and noble children of Iran” to take part in a “display of solidarity”.
Applicants in Britain were directed to register through a link on the embassy’s website. Alongside basic contact information, international applicants were asked: “If you can provide any other help to the country, write it here.”
Last month, the Foreign Office summoned Iran’s ambassador over the campaign, which Tehran has denied carries any violent intent. The Iranian Embassy told The London Standard it “strongly rejects the misleading and unfounded media coverage”, describing the campaign as “purely symbolic and non-operational”. It added that it respects the laws and regulations of the United Kingdom and does not, in any circumstances, encourage unlawful or violent conduct.
The British-Iranian broadcaster Sima Sabet describes being confronted in her car on a busy London street, an incident she says transformed her sense of safety in the city. “He was shouting: ‘We’re going to kill you. We’re not going to let you leave,’” she says. “He said I was responsible for killing Iranians inside Iran.”
The confrontation happened in broad daylight in 2023. Sabet says she reported the threats to police. Following police advice, Iran International TV suspended operations in London the next day and relocated Sabet and several journalists to Washington DC.
She believes the incident reflects a wider network operating in Britain. “We know many of their relatives or IRGC-linked people are in London,” she says. “They are operating here.”
Her concerns intensified after another warning from counter-terrorism police. “In March 2024 theytold me they had credible information that I might be targeted at my home,” she says. “That was the second time I had to leave.”
The Metropolitan Police told the Standard: “Since 2022, we have disrupted a number of plots to either kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the Iranian regime. We will continue to work closely with our intelligence partners and others to do everything we can to counter these types of threat — either through protective security measures, or disruptive action — in order to uphold the democratic freedoms that we all enjoy here in the UK.”
Attacks on British soil go back 40 years
Although recent incidents have drawn renewed scrutiny, Iranian-linked activity in Britain has a longer history. In 1986, a bomb destroyed an Iranian video centre in London producing anti-regime material, killing the owner’s son. It remains one of the clearest early examples of political violence linked to Iran on British soil.
Security services say there has been a sustained pattern of activity targeting dissidents, journalists and perceived opponents of the regime since 2022. MI5 director general Ken McCallum said: “We’ve responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents.”
In 2023, a man was convicted after conducting surveillance on the London headquarters of Iran International, a broadcaster critical of Tehran, in what authorities said could have enabled an attack.
Intelligence assessments suggest some operations are carried out through intermediaries or criminal proxies acting on behalf of those directing the activity.
The threat has directly affected media organisations. Iran International relocated parts of its operations after security warnings, while Manoto TV temporarily suspended its London presence earlier this year, citing fears of possible attacks.
Journalists working in Persian language media describe ongoing harassment directed at them and their relatives in Iran. A recurring feature in many accounts is the use of family members as leverage.
“They don’t always need to act here,” says the anonymous journalist. “They act there.”
Relatives are questioned, threatened or pressured, with warnings relayed back to those living abroad. “It creates a constant calculation,” he says. “Do you continue, knowing someone else may pay the price?”
Counter-terrorism police are also investigating a number of incidents affecting Jewish communities in London. US officials have assessed that Harakat Ansar al Yamin al Islamiya (known as HAYI), an Iranian proxy group, may be linked to attacks across Europe targeting Jewish businesses and institutions, including incidents in Britain.
“The Iranian regime is suspected to be behind many of the attacks on synagogues and even services like ambulances provided by the Jewish community,” says Rashad Ali. “This is obviously targeted and aimed at creating a climate of fear for Jews.”
He adds: “It is something that absolutely should concern everyone”. For Borhan, the intimidation she describes operates differently but creates a similar effect: a constant sense of exposure.
“They want to show they can reach you anywhere,” she says. “Even here.” She says many of the threats referenced details suggesting surveillance or access to information beyond what she had publicly shared. “They know things about your life. They know who you meet and where you go. That’s what makes it frightening.” The impact, she says, extends far beyond individuals. “It’s about creating fear across the whole community.”
The Metropolitan Police said they could not comment on individual cases but acknowledged ongoing Iran-linked threats in Britain. Both Borhan and Sabet say they have reported threats and received support from authorities, though they describe limits to what protection can achieve. “It’s difficult to stop something that is ongoing,” Borhan says.
Some activists have reduced their public profile. Others continue, arguing that silence carries greater risk. Several told the Standard they believe remaining visible makes them harder to target than speaking out alone and unnoticed.
For many Iranian dissidents in London, the sense of refuge that once defined the city has been replaced by uncertainty. Some activists reported they are considering leaving Britain for the United States or Israel. Others, including Borhan, say they have been advised to alter daily routines to disrupt potential surveillance.
For Borhan, the reality remains immediate. “Everyone knows what I do,” she says. In a city long regarded as a place of safety for exiles, that visibility now carries a different meaning.