Britain’s charity regulator issued fresh guidance on Thursday warning charities to exercise caution in their activities related to Iran as tensions in the region intensify, and said it would act on any evidence of links to extremism or terrorism.
The Charity Commission said charities could be affected in different ways by the “volatile situation” in Iran and the wider Middle East and urged trustees to carefully assess the risks of political activity, public statements and overseas operations.
The watchdog said organizations working in or commenting on Iran should be mindful that individuals and groups in the country are subject to sanctions and other restrictions under UK law.
“As a civil regulator we will respond robustly to evidence of links between charities and extremism or terrorism,” a Charity Commission statement said. “We will make referrals to other agencies where appropriate including where there is evidence of criminality.”
Trustees were reminded that any political activity must directly support a charity’s stated purpose and comply with regulations governing campaigning and social media use.
“In the current context, the Commission urges charities to be careful to ensure that any political activity they are involved in furthers their charity’s objects and complies with our guidance,” the regulator said.
The statement comes amid longstanding concerns in Britain that networks connected to Iran have used charities and religious organizations to promote political influence.
Several UK-based charities have faced investigations in recent years over alleged links to groups aligned with Tehran.
In 2024, the Charity Commission opened a compliance case involving the London-based Dar Alhekma Trust and the Abrar Islamic Foundation following a dossier alleging connections to organizations backed by Iran. Both groups deny wrongdoing.
Other organizations have drawn political criticism over activities seen by some lawmakers as promoting narratives aligned with the Islamic Republic. Conservative MP Bob Blackman last year accused Iran-linked groups of exploiting Britain’s charity sector to expand influence and “sow discord” in local communities.
Security officials and lawmakers have also warned that Tehran has used networks in Europe to extend ideological influence, even as regulators emphasize the need to balance scrutiny with protections for lawful religious and charitable activity.
The ministry said the operation was carried out jointly with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and resulted in the destruction of bases and ammunition depots belonging to the groups.
“Separatist terrorist groups intended to enter the country through the western borders, with the support of the American and Zionist enemy, and carry out attacks in urban and border areas,” the ministry said. “A significant portion of their positions and facilities were destroyed and heavy losses were inflicted.”
The statement added that Iranian forces were coordinating with Kurdish residents in border areas to monitor movements and prevent attacks.
“Armed forces and intelligence units, with the cooperation of courageous Kurdish compatriots, will thwart the American-Zionist enemy’s plans for any aggression against the country’s territory,” the ministry said.
Border officials reject infiltration reports
Local authorities in the western border region denied reports that armed fighters had entered Iran.
“No report of infiltration or illegal movement of armed groups has been registered in this part of the border,” the governor of Qasr-e Shirin on the Iraqi border said, according to Iranian media.
The reports circulating on social media about armed groups crossing the western border had no factual basis, the governor added.
Meanwhile, Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, said on Thursday that the autonomous region would not be part of any military confrontation or escalation.
A spokesperson for Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government also denied reports.
“Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government denies reports claiming it is involved in plans to arm Kurdish opposition groups and send them into Iran,” the spokesperson said. “The Kurdistan Regional Government is not part of any campaign to expand war or tensions in the region.”
After joint Israeli-US strikes on Iran, the Islamic Republic and allied Shiite militias launched ballistic missile and drone attacks on Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, which hosts several Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in exile.
The strikes mainly targeted the regional capital, Erbil, where explosions, air-raid sirens and missile interceptions were reported.
Regional responses and US position
Regional officials and Washington also commented on Kurdish groups. Turkey said it was closely monitoring the activities of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an Iranian Kurdish opposition group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
“The activities of groups that fuel ethnic separatism, such as the terrorist organization PJAK, negatively affect not only Iran's security but also the overall peace and stability of the region,” Turkey’s defense ministry told a weekly briefing in Ankara.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected reports that Washington planned to arm Kurdish groups.
“All I would say is none of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force,” Hegseth said during a briefing on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also dismissed reports that the administration was considering supplying weapons to Kurdish fighters to spark an uprising inside Iran, saying the claims had “no factual basis.”
The reports come amid speculation that Iranian Kurdish groups could play a role in the wider conflict.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that several Kurdish factions based in Iraq had recently formed a coalition and were preparing for a possible ground offensive into northwestern Iran, citing US and Israeli officials and a source within one of the groups.
The report said some fighters had moved closer to the border in recent weeks, though Kurdish factions have publicly denied launching any attack.
Axios also reported that US President Donald Trump had spoken with Kurdish leaders in Iraq about the war with Iran, while Israeli officials were said to be exploring ways Kurdish forces could increase pressure on Tehran.
Kurds are an ethnic group concentrated mainly in parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, with communities also elsewhere; because Iran does not publish official ethnic census data, estimates of the Kurdish population in Iran vary widely, commonly ranging from about 7 million to 15 million people, or roughly 8% to 17% of the population, with most living in Iran’s western and northwestern provinces near the borders with Iraq and Turkey.
Several Iranian Kurdish opposition parties based largely in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region – including Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) – have generally framed their demands around political rights and Kurdish self-rule within Iran, often describing that goal as autonomy in a federal system, while PJAK, an Iran-based Kurdish armed group aligned with the broader PKK-linked network, has advocated more sweeping political change and Kurdish self-determination.
York Regional Police said officers responded shortly after 3 a.m. on March 1 to reports of gunfire at a commercial plaza north of Toronto, where investigators found damage consistent with multiple rounds fired at a business. The building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported.
Surveillance footage shows a suspect dressed in dark clothing exiting a dark-colored sport utility vehicle before fleeing the scene, police said.
The targeted business, Saliwan Boxing, is owned by Salar Gholami, an Iranian-Canadian political activist and Canadian cruiserweight boxing champion who has organized demonstrations against the Islamic Republic across the Greater Toronto Area in recent months.
The shooting came hours after supporters gathered at the gym and elsewhere in Toronto following US and Israeli military strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, events that drew large crowds waving Iran’s Lion and Sun flag.
“Seventeen bullets in the middle of Toronto,” Gholami told Iran International. “This is not just about the Iranian community anymore. It’s about Canadians.”
Gholami said the gym is used by families, teenagers and children and could have been occupied when the shots were fired.
“Our gym is just a regular gym. Girls, teenagers, kids,” he said. “The shooting at the gym... is so dangerous.”
He said he believes the attack may have been intended as a warning linked to his activism, though police said no motive has been confirmed.
York Regional Police acknowledged concerns within the community that the incident could be connected to broader geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Investigators said they are working with policing and intelligence partners and reviewing all available evidence, including the possibility of politically motivated or transnational elements.
Canadian intelligence officials have previously warned that Iranian state actors and their proxies have targeted dissidents abroad, including individuals living in Canada. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has said it has disrupted potentially lethal threats linked to foreign interference operations in past cases.
Former Canadian Justice minister Irwin Cotler, for example, was previously the subject of an alleged Iranian plot to kill him on Canadian soil.
Gholami said he has remained in contact with police following the shooting but expressed concern about security arrangements, saying he was told additional protection would need to be arranged privately.
“We came here for freedom,” he said. “Canada must protect its citizens. I’m Canadian too.”
Despite the attack, he said he intends to continue organizing demonstrations.
“I will not give up,” Gholami said. “They may be able to take my life, but they cannot take our honor.”
Iran International contacted Public Safety Canada to ask whether additional protections are being considered for Iranian-Canadian activists amid concerns about transnational repression. The department did not respond before publication.
