Iran plotting to snatch Brits off London streets and fly them to Tehran as tensions surge

In one case, Iranian intelligence officers tried to lay an ambush, using a journalist’s brother to lure a presenter to Turkey where they planned to bundle her into a car and drive her across the border. 

The journalist did not go. 

Another was forced to miss her father’s funeral for fear of being arrested if she set foot in Iran.

Last night senior politicians here demanded that Iran’s ambassador to London, Hamid Baeidinejad, be formally summoned by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab over controversial remarks he made on Twitter alleging the journalists were “agents and mercenaries of foreign services, paid by the country’s enemies and acting against the national interest.”

But Iran’s attempts to use communications regulator Ofcom to silence the channel have failed. 

Problems began four weeks ago when one of the channel’s main anchors received a chilling phone call following the airing of videos sent by ordinary Iranians showing the brutal suppression of protests.

“She was very distressed,” said Iran International editor Sadeq Saba. “She told me her father and mother were phoned and ordered to go to the offices of the intelligence ministry. Her brother was taken off the street.

“Once there, officials told them to call her in London and tell her she must quit working for Iran International within 24 hours.

“If they she didn’t leave, they said they knew her address and had the capability of taking her from London and bringing her back to Tehran by force.

“Two hours later another colleague came, the day after two or three more. “Within five days 12 colleagues had come to me to tell me about the harassment of families. They’re all London based. Many are UK citizens. 

“The message was the same; quit or we will arrest your families and bring you back by force. They threatened to confiscate relatives’ passports, even threatened their jobs. 

“If families failed to comply, they said, they had other means at their disposal to persuade them.”

He added: “This is psychological torture. Iran’s intelligence ministry is a notorious organisation. If somebody calls you from there, you start to tremble.”

Police were informed, and the news outlet is having further discussions with counter-terror specialists

“The regime has killed more than a hundred dissidents across Europe since 1980, including the former PM Shapour Bakhtiar.

“Now it is threatening to send terror to London against journalists. 

“They tell us they know where we live, where our children go to school, and that they can bring us back whenever they want.

“They have supporters in Britain’s Iranian community, including members of militant groups, which they could use for violent purposes.

“We suspect they have paid informants everywhere. My assumption is when I speak to colleagues openly, here, Iranian intelligence hears what I say.”

Managers employed a private security company and provided counsellors. 

“These journalists are feeling guilty about the consequences of their job on their families back home,” said Saba.

The threats are part of a wider campaign of terror which has also targeted journalists working for BBC Persia Service, Voice of America and Radio Farda (Radio Free Europe).

Protests have been growing since January, when it emerged the regime was spending around $1bn a year on supporting militant groups abroad, while Iranians suffered under economic sanctions. Sanctions were increased later under US President Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy.

But demonstrations became more serious in November when the Government announced a 200 percent hike in fuel prices.

Within days rioting had spread to 100 cities.

“The reason why they’re intimidating to us in London is because they know things will only get worse. They want to cut off any independent reporting,” said Saba.

‘If the regime felt secure, it wouldn’t have acted as it did during recent protests.

“Ten years ago, there was the Green Movement, people were supporting one side of the regime against another – they supported so-called reformers. 

“But now they don’t want the regime at all, it’s a sea change in the public’s perception. They want the whole regime to go. 

“The regime knows this. From day one, security forces were shooting to kill.

“It has failed ideologically, economically and politically. They’re fighting for survival,” said Saba.

Last week the regime cut off Iran’s internet and mobile phone services in a bid to prevent more reporting. 

“We have twenty million viewers using satellite channels or the internet – most in Iran,” said Saba. 

“They’ve try to block us in the past, but they don’t succeed.”

He added: “We are not an opposition channel. We simply report the facts. “And we will not allow them to change our editorial policy.”

Renowned human rights lawyer Mark Stephens –  who is also representing the family of Harry Dunn, killed by US diplomat’s wife Anne Sacoolas in August – confirmed he was taking Iran International’s plight to the UN. 

“Whether or not Iran listens, it is important that there is a multinational approach to this Iran problem, and the best way to achieve that is through the UN,” he said last night. 

Tom Tugendhat MP,  former chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, called for Iran’s ambassador to be summoned. 

“Iran’s Ambassador is just a paid apparatchik for a dictatorial state, but seeking to interfere in the freedom of the press here goes beyond the remit of any embassy. He should be summoned by the Foreign Office as a matter of urgency,” he said. 

“We cannot tolerate the behaviour being levelled at these journalists. Some of them are even UK citizens.

“If you care about the rule of law, this includes freedom of the press. It must be defended. “

The FCO has so far resisted, though sources say back door talks are taking place.

A spokesman said: “We are deeply concerned by the reports of these threats. The UK is committed to ensuring that journalists are able to do their jobs without fear of retribution.”