UK, US, France, 11 other nations condemn Iranian intelligence threats
Iranian protesters hold their country's flags and posters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli rally at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
LONDON: Britain and 13 allies, including the United States and France, condemned on Thursday (Jul 31) what they called a surge in assassination, kidnapping and harassment plots by Iranian intelligence services targeting individuals in Europe and North America.
"We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty," the countries said in a joint statement.
The governments of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US called on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop such illegal activities.
Since early 2022, Britain says it has disrupted more than 20 Iran-linked plots to kidnap or kill individuals in the UK, including British nationals and others Tehran views as threats.
In October, Reuters reported that Iran was behind a wave of attempted assassinations and abductions across Europe and the United States.
In March, the British government announced it would require the Iranian state to register all political influence activities, citing increasingly aggressive behaviour by Tehran's intelligence services.
