The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, announced that Iran was facing a clear and open soft, low-level war with the Europeans, accusing enemies of being behind the protests that have rocked the country since mid-September.
The Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, quoted Salami as saying that Iran is "never at peace" and that "enemies of the revolution" were working against the country.
"The enemy's work has reached the point where it has brought in the wandering opposition and those who are political bankrupts who are rejected by the Iranian nation," said the commander about Western countries backing protests in Iran and hosting opposition figures.
Salami said Wednesday that the threats against Iran International, which forced the channel to stop broadcasting in London and relocate to Washington, "show how far the Islamic Revolution's realm of power, a field of infiltration and radius of influence has extended."
Six months after the outbreak of the protests in Iran, officials gave different explanations.
In a previous speech, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the West supported the protests to abandon the nuclear negotiations and prevent Iran from advancing.
On Monday, the European Union imposed asset freezes and visa bans on 32 Iranian entities and officials in Iran in the fifth package of sanctions against Tehran for its suppression of protests.
The British Foreign Office summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires in London to protest serious threats against journalists living in Britain, especially the Iran International staff.
"I am appalled by the Iranian regime's continuing threats to the lives of UK-based journalists and have today summoned its representative to make clear this will not be tolerated," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
Earlier, the channel issued a statement announcing that after a significant escalation in state-backed threats from Iran and advice from the Metropolitan Police, it has reluctantly closed its London studios and moved broadcasting to Washington DC.
Ahead of the move, Scotland Yard revealed that police and MI5 foiled 15 plots since the start of 2022 to either kidnap or kill UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the Iranian regime.
On Thursday, the Daily Telegraph revealed that US diplomats are pressing the UK government not to formally declare IRGC a terrorist group, despite the Home Office backing the move.
The British newspaper reported that the US State Department, trying to revive the faltering nuclear agreement, believes the UK can play a crucial role as an interlocutor with Tehran, which the designation would undercut.
In 2019, the Trump administration classified the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and the Biden administration refused to backtrack the move. However, the issue was among the Iranian demands in the stalled negotiations to revive the nuclear deal.
The director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, Nile Gardiner, condemned the implications of the news, describing it as "absolutely disgraceful."
"The Biden Administration is groveling to the terrorist regime in Tehran," Gardiner said.
Last January, the Telegraph revealed that the British government planned to put the Guards on the terrorist list, with the support of the Minister of Security.
However, in early February, the daily reported that the government "temporarily" suspended the plan to include the IRGC on the terrorist list over fears that the move could harm diplomatic communication channels between London and Tehran.
A source told The Times that the Foreign Office officials are concerned about proscription because they want to maintain access. Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat supported the decision to outlaw the IRGC.
