Met Police chief issues chilling ‘long and sustained’ Iran terror warning

Britain is confronting a “long and sustained” threat from Iranian-backed plots, the head of the Metropolitan Police has warned, as ministers scramble to respond to the widening fallout from the Middle East crisis. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the scale and nature of hostile activity linked to Iran had shifted sharply, with more than 20 potentially lethal plots disrupted in the past two years.

Working alongside MI5, counter-terror officers have foiled operations targeting dissidents, journalists and members of Britain’s Jewish community. Sir Mark, during interviews with the Financial Times and CNN, said a key concern was Tehran’s growing reliance on criminal proxies rather than trained operatives.

Sir Mark said: “It’s sometimes ordinary criminals responding to adverts on the dark web, which is extraordinary, because it’s a different sort of state craft, isn’t it?”, likening such recruits to “useful idiots”.

He added: “The idea of longterm strategic placement by Iran is not the core of what we have seen. It is a very narrow set of criminals who we are targeting through their images — dangerous wanted offenders and registered sex offenders.”

The threat posed was “long and sustained”, he added.

The tactic, often facilitated via the dark web, allows hostile states to bypass traditional intelligence detection methods, creating what officials describe as a more diffuse and unpredictable threat picture.

The warning comes as the Government confronts the broader consequences of the escalating Iran conflict.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is chairing an emergency COBRA meeting on Monday to assess the war’s impact on the UK economy and cost of living, with senior ministers and the Bank of England governor expected to attend.

The meeting — the Government’s primary crisis response mechanism — will focus on energy security, supply chains and support for households as global instability drives up prices.

Against that backdrop, Sir Mark has already taken the rare step of seeking a total ban on this year’s Al-Quds Day march in London, arguing it had become a vehicle for state-linked provocation.

The Commissioner’s remarks were delivered during a visit to the United States, where he met counterparts from the FBI and the New York Police Department. He said London and New York now face “near-identical” threats from Iranian proxies, underscoring the need for closer international coordination.

Security officials increasingly view such activity as a form of state-directed organised crime rather than conventional espionage — a shift that is driving changes in policing, surveillance and legal powers under the National Security Act 2023.