TEHRAN – Iran’s embassy in the UK has said the Western country’s officials are trying to distract the public from London’s complicity in the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, after the MI5 spy chief claimed 20 “Iran-backed potentially lethal plots” had been disrupted in Britain since January 2022.

Ken McCallum did not provide any evidence for his claims, but accused Russia of similar “plots”. 

“Once again, a UK government security official has made baseless and delusive allegations against Iran, speculating that Iran might 'possibly' or 'in principle' 'repurpose' imaginary 'plots' within the UK—all without a shred of evidence,” Iran’s UK embassy said in a post on X, adding, “This rhetoric seems designed to distract the public from the UK government's complicity in the Israeli regime's genocidal warmongering.”

The embassy also advised British officials to use their “influence” to halt Israeli aggressions instead of demonizing other countries. “Stop offering safe havens to terror groups and cults that promote hate and violence within the UK,” it added.

In a lengthy speech on Tuesday, McCallum claimed that Tehran's supposed "lethal plots" target "Iranians abroad who oppose the government." He likely referred to staff from Israeli-funded media in the UK, which has been urging people in Iran to arm themselves against security forces and frequently feature leaders of well-known separatist and terrorist groups as “freedom fighters”. 

Also reacting to the allegations, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated on Wednesday that UK officials should focus on reining in the Israeli regime’s unchecked violence, rather than making unfounded accusations and promoting misleading narratives.

Esmail Baqaei pointed out that the UK has made several outrageous claims against Iran in the past few years, without any supporting evidence.  

He also called on the UK to reconsider its “unconstructive policies” towards the Iranian people and the West Asia region.