Iran smuggling agents into UK as Channel migrants Tehran boasts it is positioning ‘revolutionary people’ in London through secret network Individuals with links to Tehran’s intelligence agencies are understood to have been intercepted by UK authorities while attempting to enter Britain on small boats. People smugglers working on the Continent told The Telegraph that the Iranian regime facilitated the passage to Britain of migrants living at Calais in exchange for a “favour” for Iran after they settled in England.
Home Office officials have thwarted Iranian-linked individuals arriving in Britain from small boats by using drones and surveillance watchtowers fitted with artificial intelligence to monitor vessels crossing the English Channel. Suspected Iranian operatives intercepted in small boats are thought to have links to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the country's primary intelligence and domestic security agency responsible for overseas operations.
An Iranian official said: “Of course, don't forget that our armed forces have influence and run the [smuggling] routes in some cases if they want. “At the moment we have people right there in London, revolutionary people who care about the world and the lives of children – they wait for us to tell them what to do. We have not done that yet, but we can easily make London unsafe for you if we want to.
It is understood that the number of threats arriving via small boats is dwarfed by the amount of IRGC-affiliated people entering Britain on legal flights from Europe. Officials also told The Telegraph that the radicalisation and activation of Iranian diaspora in London and the use of proxies in Britain posed a bigger national security risk than small boats, which are often an expensive and unreliable route.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/24/iran-smuggling-agents-into-uk-as-channel-migrants/
Michael Rubin: Saudi Arabia Bought Off the Houthis. Now They Are Blockading Its Ports Saudi Arabia stopped bombing the Houthis, pulled back in Yemen, and let its proxies work with them. Michael Rubin on what that bought Riyadh, why Qatar and Oman learned the same lesson first, and what the Kingdom would have to do now to get the Red Sea back.
After all, despite public posturing against the Houthis, Riyadh has, after Iran and the Sultanate of Oman, become their biggest supporters. The chief difference between Tehran and Riyadh is that while Iranian authorities embrace the Houthis out of ideological and sectarian sympathy, Saudi officials do so out of a cynical belief that they can co-opt and appease them.
While Houthi drone attacks on Israel make headlines, the Houthis launched more than a thousand drone and ballistic missile attacks on Saudi Arabia; not only did the United States barely make any mention, but when the Saudis intervened to counter the Houthis, Obama administration progressives took the Houthi side criticizing the imprecision of Saudi bombing and demanding an end to U.S. intelligence sharing with the Kingdom. On its face, this made no sense: To deny intelligence in support of Saudi strikes on the Houthis would never force Riyadh to stop countering what it believed to be an existential threat but rather was equivalent to blindfolding a sniper as punishment for missing.
Absent consistent and meaningful support, Saudi Arabia went to Plan B: Buying off the Houthis. irstrikes on the Houthis stopped, and Saudi forces inside Yemen pulled back. On March 29, 2022, Saudi authorities announced a broad ceasefire in Yemen to facilitate peace talks. Shortly after, the Saudis created the Presidential Leadership Council to unite the various Yemeni factions that opposed the Houthis into a singular government.
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With Red Sea security now under threat, it is time the Saudis stop indulging the Houthis. The Southern Forces in Yemen were the most effective fighting force against the Houthis, until the Saudis turned on them. Likewise, the Saudis must end their indulgence of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Sudan so long as he also works with and empowers the Houthis.
Finally, if Saudi Arabia wants to maintain security in the Red Sea and cease the Houthi stranglehold over the Bab el-Mandeb, it should start working with Somaliland. If Muhammad Bin Salman chooses to pursue proxy wars with the United Arab Emirates and spread online poison regarding Israel's recognition of Somaliland over Saudi Arabia's own security, then Saudi Arabia will lose, a victim of its own short-sightedness.
https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/saudi-arabia-bought-off-the-houthis-now-they-are-blockading-its-ports/