The Government is under pressure to address concerns that Tehran is exploiting Britain as a “permissive environment” for intelligence operations through an English-language broadcaster operating from the capital.
Press TV, Iran’s state-backed channel, has been accused of using its London studio as cover for recruiting assets whilst producing content that creates what security experts describe as a “target list for terrorists” focused on British Jewish institutions.
The Community Security Trust (CST), the charity responsible for safeguarding Britain’s Jewish community, has branded the channel’s flagship programme Palestine Declassified “the most antisemitic media currently produced in this country.”
A CST spokesman stated: “In every episode they pick a topic and highlight large numbers of ordinary Jewish organisations, charities, schools and individuals. They paint them all as genocidal, Zionist extremists who are infiltrating Britain. It is a clear example of the Iranian state inciting hatred of Jews and trying to cause division in British society.”
The programme is presented by Chris Williamson, the former Labour MP suspended over dismissing antisemitism concerns, and David Miller, an academic who successfully sued Bristol University for discrimination after his dismissal over anti-Zionist views.
Intelligence concerns extend beyond the channel’s editorial output. Jonathan Hackett, a former American intelligence operative with two decades running US Marine Corps intelligence operations, warned that certain Press TV journalists function as talent spotters for Tehran, identifying potential recruits before transferring them to experienced handlers.
“From an Iranian perspective, London is a permissive environment,” Mr Hackett told The Telegraph. “Press TV not only has done clandestine work using these credentials but they also openly do things.”
The broadcaster’s London operation has gained strategic importance for Iranian intelligence following sanctions from the EU, Australia, Canada and the United States. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control stated in 2023 that Press TV had been “used by Iranian intelligence services to recruit sensitive assets, including US persons.”
Mr Hackett cited Monica Witt, a former US Air Force counter-intelligence specialist with top-secret clearance, as Tehran’s most significant recruitment success, describing her defection as “a bombshell on the intelligence community.”
Despite losing its Ofcom broadcasting licence in 2012 and facing a YouTube ban, Press TV maintains over one million followers across Instagram, Facebook and X.
A UK Government spokesman responded: “We are clear-eyed about the threats posed by Iran, and our first priority is protecting British interests and British lives both in the UK and overseas. We have introduced a comprehensive set of additional measures aimed at countering threats posed by the Iranian regime.”
