The report quotes a member of an advocacy organization against Iran, who claims that in the Revolutionary Guards they did not necessarily appeal to British people of Iranian origin, who are mostly “Sunnis, secularists and opponents of the Ayatollahs’ regime”, but to Muslims from the Shia sect, who immigrated from Pakistan, Iraq or Lebanon. “The truth is that up to 400,000 Shia Muslims are in Britain, and some of them see Iran as the protector of religion around the world.”
For many years, Iran has built a wide network of armed groups operating in countries throughout the Middle East, which began attacking American targets and foreign ships since Washington sided with Israel after October 7.
They all oppose Israel and the US and are part of what they call the “axis of resistance”, although there are debates about the extent of their independence and Tehran’s control over them. Following the killing of three American soldiers in an attack in Jordan last month, Washington launched a series of attacks against the militias in Iraq and Syria, at the same time as the campaign She is managing against the Houthis in Yemen.