SAS on UK alert over fears secret Iranian sleeper cells might spark wave of killings
An SAS counter-terrorist team has been moved to London amid fears that Iranian sleeper cells operating in the UK could launch a series of terrorist attacks.
British spooks fear secret Iranian kill teams could also carry out assassinations and kidnapping of anti-regime figures based in Britain. It is understood that the SAS team will be based at a secure location in Central London for the duration of the Iranian War.
British intelligence chiefs believe there could be as many as 100 spies and proxy agents operating in the UK.
Proxy agents – civilians from another country recruited by Iran – have already been used to carry out terrorist attacks in the UK.
MI5 officers also fear that Iran might also be plotting cyber attacks against Britain’s health system, the UK civilian air traffic control system and the country’s power network.
Terrorist attacks in the UK surged after the start of the wars in Ukraine. In the 7/7 suicide attacks in July 2005, 52 members of the public were killed while travelling on tubes and a London bus.
Dozens more people were killed and hundreds were injured in the war that followed with one of the worst losses of life occurring at the Manchester Arena in 20917 when 22 people were killed. Now intelligence chiefs believe the war in Iran could let loose a string of terror attacks in the UK.
An intelligence source said: “The war in Iran is highly likely to spill out onto the streets of the UK. The UK special forces and the intelligence services need to be ready for a surge in attacks by Iranian proxies and those by lone wolf radicalised Islamists.
“This is exactly the sort of crisis in which sleeper cells and proxy agents could be mobilised. There could be kidnappings, assassinations, cyber attacks and we can’t rule out the use of IEDs to cause chaos in London and other major cities.
“The world’s focus is on the Middle East but we also need to be aware of what could be happening on our own doorstep.”
The Daily Star Sunday has also learnt that members of the Special Forces have also been moved into the region in case British nationals need to be rapidly evacuated from “hot” locations in Iraq and Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the US and Israel have conducted more than 2,000 airstrikes against Iran and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
Over 2,000 people have been killed and Iran has responded by launching drone attacks against a British Sovereign base in Cyprus, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, Oman, Qatar and Azerbaijan.
