Iran would be ‘insane’ to take on a NATO country as Tehran’s terror plot revealed

Security chiefs fear a war in the Middle East could lead to more terror attacks in the UK, the Daily Express understands.

Lone-wolf extremists could be “galvanised” into committing atrocities across Europe as the conflict between and Iran intensifies.

And this might lead to a greater cycle of radicalisation, with more propaganda being weaponised to inspire attacks in Britain over the longer term, it is understood.

Jewish charity – the Community Security Trust – said it is mounting a huge security operation, its “largest” ever, to protect people on the anniversary of the October 7 terror attack.

It is also the hugely important symbolic time of the Jewish New Year — ‘Rosh Hashanah’ — which begins on October 2 and ends on October 4.

And Mossad has “identified Iranian attempts to target Jewish communities in the United States and Europe”, Israeli officials said.

They added: “Messages have been conveyed to the relevant countries and embassies, which have raised their alert levels to the highest level.”

The number of anti-Semitic incidents has trebled in the past year, according to the CST.

Dave Rich, head of policy at the Community Security Trust, said: “We’ve seen this pattern before in previous years where is at war and we get these big spikes in antisemitism.

“But previously, those conflicts have only lasted a couple of weeks or maybe a month, and then things kind of calm down.

“I think we’ve reached the point where we say this isn’t a temporary blip any more. This is where we are. Antisemitic incidents are running at a higher level than they were a year ago. After a year of it, people have to just adjust to this new reality.”

The CST said the 5,583 incidents recorded between October 7 2023 and September 30 is the highest total of any 12-month period.

The previous 12 months saw 1,830 incidents recorded in total.

The security services and the Metropolitan Police are now on red alert amid fears that the Iranian ballistic missile attack on – and Tel Aviv’s anticipated response – could lead to a fresh domestic security threat.

Former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Iran has caused constant instability in the Middle East for years, but over the past twelve months – since the Oct 7th attacks by Iran-sponsored Hamas on – we’ve seen how much damage they can do.

“The regime in Iran will always look to spread their influence and destabilise, but they would be insane to take on a NATO country as it would guarantee an Article 5 response. This is where NATO allies all consider an attack on one country an attack on us all.

“The world has buried its head over Iran for too long, hoping that their Malign influence would go away. However, we have seen over the past year how they will use their proxies to destabilise the Middle East and the world.

“Now they are firing directly on and it is time that we all woke up to the threat to global peace that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard represent.”

Former Armed Forces minister James Heappey added: “What they will be concerned of, more generally, in the business of the National Security Council and Cobra, will be the risk of escalation; what that means to the wider UK interest in the region; what the UK options are alongside allies, and they will be calibrating very closely within what’s called the Quad – Germany, France, UK, US – in order to make sure that we’re in step with our allies.

“They will be worrying about the consequence of geopolitical crisis around key choke points like the Straits of Hormuz, the Southern Red Sea, what that means for global supply chains, and as you heard from the commentary before we started talking, they’ll be worried about what it means for the terror threat at home, or indeed to UK nationals overseas.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, which he said “made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.”

An Iranian commander meanwhile threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if retaliates against Iran’s territory.

The Lebanese militant Hezbollah group is claiming its fighters killed and wounded an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said they detonated an explosive device as Israeli troops tried crossing deeper into Lebanon toward the southern village of Yaroun on Wednesday.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has also been accused of attempting assassinations on British soil, funding, arming and training terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah and supporting the Houthis’ Red Sea piracy campaign.

Shahin Gobadi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said: “Warmongering and terrorism are parts of a single policy that is pursued by the Iranian regime.

“Whenever the regime becomes weaker, it commits any crime to survive. Just as it increases its belligerence, it also increases the use of terrorism.

“Recently, the regime has utilised criminal gangs to assassinate its opponents, including the attempt on the life of Mr. Alejo Vidal Quadras, the former Vice President of the European Parliament in broad daylight in Madrid and to attack the offices of supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in the UK, Germany, Sweden, and France.

“From now on, it will step up the use of all of its facilities in the service of terrorism, including diplomatic facilities, criminal gangs, and by employing members of its proxy groups abroad.”

Speaking about fears of a spike in hate crime, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, from the Metropolitan Police, said: “Nobody should feel unsafe or in fear going about their lives in this city, certainly not on the basis of their race or religion.

“Since October last year we have seen a really concerning rise in hate crime with both antisemitic and Islamophobic offences increasing significantly.

“For the past year we have had a dedicated policing operation tackling hate crime in communities, responding to significant protest, countering extremism and terrorism, and working to provide reassurance particularly in parts of London with significant Jewish and Muslim populations.

“As the situation in the Middle East becomes less certain once again, we know that fears and tensions will rise here at home too.

“Our work, which is underpinned by engagement with community representatives and with our key partners, will continue. Together, we are determined to demonstrate that there will be no tolerance for hate crime in London.”

MI5 Director General Ken McCallum has previously warned the “particularly intensive” threat from Iran may “move into new directions”.

He warned after the October 7 attacks last year: “We have obviously been concerned about Iran’s behaviour in the UK for a long time. In particular, the last 18 months or so have been a particularly intensive phase of Iran-generated threat on UK soil.

“Plainly, events in the Middle East sharpen the possibility that Iran might decide to move into new directions. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that could include the UK, but we are already operating at a high level of Iran-generated threat.

“For the most part, the activity we’ve seen backed by Iran in the UK for the last 18 months or so has been targeted at the regime’s own internal enemies, dissidents, Farsi media organisations. Not exclusively, but predominantly.

“Clearly one of the things on our minds is might the Iranian targeting intent shift in response to events elsewhere.”

Mrs Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said: “The clerical regime’s terrorism has extended to Europe and North America, using criminal gangs.

“Examples include the assassination attempt on the former Vice President of the European Parliament, Professor Alejo Vidal Quadras, in Madrid.

“There have also been attacks on offices affiliated with the National Council of Resistance (NCRI) in London, Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm. Such attacks demand decisive action against the regime.”

The IRGC was linked to a plot to assassinate two TV presenters outside their studio in London.

Iranian spies offered a people smuggler $200,000 to murder two Iran International hosts, Fardad Farahzad and Sima Sabet, because they were allegedly causing “a lot of humiliation in the media”.

They were given codenames of the “bride and groom”, it is understood.

Mohammed Reza Ansari, a commander from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was behind the plot.