Keir Starmer’s weakness is putting us all at risk from Iran – the threat is here in the UK
Labour must act on warnings and tackle Iran’s influence in the UK, says Shadow Home Secretary Priti Patel
A US bomber at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire (Image: Getty)
The past week has been a stark reminder of the threat Iran poses to Britain and our allies. And it has exposed Keir Starmer’s total weakness for all to see. Britain’s allies are raging against his feebleness. Bahrain, the UAE and Cyprus, as well as the United States, are reported to be angered and disappointed.
Our allies are so alarmed at Starmer’s lack of action that they are sending ships to defend Cyprus – while our destroyer remains stuck at Portsmouth. But Iran is not just a danger in the Middle East. It is a danger right here in the UK. On Friday, we heard that four alleged Iranian spies had been arrested, having reportedly targeted the British Jewish community.
And we have learned that the son of the late Ayatollah Khomeini – the barbaric and brutal ruler killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – reportedly has a property empire worth up to £150 million in our capital.
Mojtaba Khomeini, touted as his father’s successor, seems to have built his portfolio up through Ali Ansari, a banker accused of financing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp.
That’s the extremist armed group the Iranian regime uses as its primary tool of repression – repression that has included murdering tens of thousands of protesters. And reports suggest its senior commanders also have assts in London.
Let’s be clear: these are property portfolios build on blood money. The sad truth is that the UK has turned a blind eye to senior figures in the despotic Iranian regime parking their wealth and assets in London.
And they have been doing so while brutally repressing their own people, sponsoring terrorism and attacking our allies.
Russian oligarchs made London a hub for laundering their cash and the Conservative Government acted to clamp down on it.
Now Labour urgently need to investigate and track the Iranian regime’s finances and ensure all sanctions are enforced.
Shadow Home Secretary Priti Patel (Image: Getty)
This requires action today – not tomorrow, not next week when the Iranians will have had more time to cover their tracks.
The Government must act on the Intelligence and Security Committee’s recommendations in this space and tackle all examples of Iran’s influence here.
We need measures to shut down extreme mosques linked to the Iranian regime and to freeze the assets of those associated with Iran’s theocracy.
The Conservatives have also said we stand ready to work with the Government on emergency legislation to proscribe the IRGC.
Britain cannot be a bolt-hole for the financial interests of Tehran’s ruling elite.
And it cannot be a sanctuary for enforcers of repression if those linked to the regime seek to flee Iran.
After all his dithering and delay, Keir Starmer must show much-needed leadership and get ahead of this issue, before he finds himself once again chasing after events.
