A British-Iranian man said a suspected Iran-linked agent offered him £40,000 ($53,000) to kill a London-based journalist critical of Tehran, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The man, identified by the pseudonym “Nima,” told the newspaper he reported the incident to British police after returning to the UK and warned the journalist, who works for a Persian-language broadcaster.
Nima, who has lived in Britain for about a decade and works as a bartender, said the encounter began during a holiday in southern Europe, where he visited an Iranian restaurant and met two men, including one he recognized from Iran.
The man initially discussed plans to open a bar in London and asked for Nima’s contact details, presenting the approach as a business proposal, according to the report.
Alleged murder proposal
Nima said a second meeting took a darker turn when the man arrived with two others and began referring to personal details about his life in Britain and relatives in Iran.
“He told me: ‘You are a decent man. You have family in Iran who need your support. I would like to offer you a job, with an initial payment of £40,000,’” Nima told the Jewish Chronicle.
According to the report, the man referred to an Iranian journalist in London with whom Nima had argued online and said he wanted to “punish” him, asking whether Nima could carry out the act or find someone else to do so.
Nima said he was offered 20,000 pounds in cash immediately and the remaining amount after identifying the journalist’s location. He said the men appeared to believe the journalist lived in a safe house.
The suspected operative did not directly identify himself as an IRGC member, Nima said, but an acquaintance suggested he held influence in Iran and referred to “Sepah” - the Persian name for the IRGC –while discussing possible help for Nima’s family.
Security concerns in Britain
The alleged approach comes amid heightened concern in Britain over Iranian-linked threats targeting dissidents, journalists and Jewish institutions.
Iran-aligned group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia has said it carried out attacks on Jewish sites in Britain and Europe, including incidents involving two north London synagogues last month.
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum has warned repeatedly that Iran, acting through the IRGC, poses what he described as a “potentially lethal” threat in Britain. British authorities have disrupted multiple alleged Iran-linked plots since 2022 targeting dissidents, journalists and Jewish or Israeli-linked individuals, according to British officials.
