A British minister says he United Kingdom has included the Islamic Republic in its list of hostile nations along with Russia, China, and North Korea.
In an interview with the Telegraph, UK Minister of State for Security and Borders Damian Hinds cited cyber activity concerns and disinformation campaigns as the reasons behind the decision.
"The three countries that I mentioned to you have physical human capability, they have a big cyber presence, they're able to deploy at scale," Hinds said, referring to Iran, Russia, and China.
He added that it’s not just terrorism that threatens UK security as geopolitical power struggles are on the rise, noting that these countries "are involved in multiple ways" in terms of spies on the ground, cyberattacks, soldiers on standby, and disinformation campaigns.
The triumvirate of Russian, China and Iran was also mentioned by MI6 chief Richard Moore in a BBC interview last month.
“They can run, and do run, information ops and are involved in multiple different ways. I mean, it's difficult to give you a comprehensive list because there are so many potential ways,” Hinds stressed.
He added that North Korea is the fourth hostile state on the radar.
Iran has a strong network of state hackers who regularly target American, Israeli and other government and company computers, both for disruption and for obtaining sensitive information.