A Metro investigation has uncovered a network of student societies in the United Kingdom that have collaborated with an Iranian-backed broadcaster linked to intelligence recruitment. The campaign wing of the AhlulBayt Society, which operates more than 45 branches on British campuses, has worked with PressTV, a media outlet that the United States has accused of being used by Iranian intelligence to recruit assets. The AhlulBayt Society groups, commonly known as ABSocs, have also partnered with the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), an organization that allegedly maintains ties with the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). These revelations have raised concerns that innocent and unwitting students may be being radicalized and recruited by Iran.
Scope of the Investigation
Metro has also found evidence of IRGC statements being shared within an ABSoc university group chat. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has called for the Office for Students to investigate whether British universities are being used to extend Iran's influence. ABSocs are Shia-faith student societies that have thousands of followers across UK universities and are overseen by the Muslim Student Council (MSC). While many appear to operate as completely normal religious and social hubs at the campus level, there are fears about the society's activity nationally.
Collaboration with PressTV
Their campaign wing, ABSoc for Justice, openly collaborates on social media with PressTV, the English-language channel of Iran's state broadcaster. The media organization only operates on social media and through its website in the UK because it has been banned from broadcasting by Ofcom and removed from YouTube. PressTV has been accused of being a front for recruiting assets in the UK and abroad, and it is sanctioned in the United States and other countries. The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control stated in 2023 that PressTV had been used by Iranian intelligence services to recruit sensitive assets, including US persons.
Jonathan Hackett, a former American intelligence operator and expert in Iran's covert operations, described the collaboration between PressTV and ABSoc for Justice as a positive indicator that recruitment was taking place within the society. He said: 'PressTV is the mothership of this activity. It has been delisted by Ofcom, yet these people continue working with them. It is probably the best evidence you are going to get of recruitment.' Examples of collaborative posts include posts about protests outside the Jordanian embassy in London in April and a joint post with PressTV's Hebrew channel last December.
Recruitment Tactics
Hackett claimed that Iranian intelligence uses organizations such as ABSocs to target and exploit religious views to identify potential unwitting or witting recruits for the future. 'At their events they are looking for individuals who display some motivations that can be exploited for further use. In many cases people being exploited do not realize, because things look so friendly, normal and non-threatening,' he said. Hackett also noted that Marzieh Hashemi, a PressTV presenter based in Washington, was involved in the early stages of the recruitment of high-profile American spy Monica Witt, who defected to Iran in 2013.
Links to the Islamic Human Rights Commission
Metro has also uncovered concerns about ABSocs for Justice's ties to the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which has alleged links to Iran. Their chairman, Massoud Shadjareh, appeared in videos with ABSoc for Justice earlier this month, and the organizations have collaborated on numerous occasions. The Telegraph has reported that Shadjareh met Ayatollah Khamenei before his death and took part in a vigil for IRGC general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US air strike in 2020. ABSoc for Justice is also listed as a supporter of the IHRC-organized Al-Quds Day rally last March, which was labeled a hate rally by MPs and banned by the government.
The IHRC was described as an Islamist group ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime that has a history of extremist links and terrorist sympathies in an independent review of Prevent, the government's counterterrorism scheme, in 2023. The IHRC insisted in a statement to Metro that they are not linked to the Iranian government or the IRGC or Basij. The IHRC was also named in a report by Lord Walney in March as one of the charities, community centers, and other organizations that Tehran could be using to maintain its influence and interests in the UK.
Lord Walney said the investigation 'exposes an alarming risk that forces supporting the malign and dangerous Iranian regime are seeking to radicalise students through this network of student societies. The government needs to get serious with a multifaceted drive to prevent this vile terror exporting Islamist regime from undermining our country from within.'
Evidence of Radical Sentiment
Metro has found examples of apparent radical sentiment being shared within ABSocs. This includes an IRGC statement being shared with a Greenwich University ABSoc after the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei. The message, obtained by Metro, says 'the avenging hand of the Iranian nation will not leave the perpetrators of the Imam of the Ummah's killers unpunished.' It continues: 'The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, and the great popular Basij will powerfully continue the path of their leader.' Metro has also seen posts where a number of university ABSocs mourned the death of Ayatollah Khamenei and displayed his picture at events.
Some ABSocs have distanced themselves from the MSC. Durham University's ABSoc wrote in a statement online that 'no external organisation, including the Muslim Student Council or any other ABSoc, represents the views of the Durham ABSoc.'
Political Reaction
Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, demanded an investigation into the ties between ABSocs and Iranian-linked groups. He said: 'British campuses are being used to extend the reach of a government that brutalises its own people. Extremism remains one of the greatest dangers to our national security, and groups that glorify terrorism or threaten community safety have no place in Britain. The Office for Students must investigate every institution where these groups have operated, and universities receiving public funding should not be providing cover for the agents of a foreign regime. And any foreign student who expresses support for terrorism or extremism must have their visas cancelled and must be removed from this country.'
Emma Schubart, Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, said: 'These findings should concern both universities and the government. Repeated collaboration with PressTV, which US authorities say has been used for intelligence recruitment, alongside links to organisations associated with the Iranian regime's ideological infrastructure raises serious questions about foreign influence on campus.'
A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust, which monitors Iranian influence and its direct threat to the UK, said: 'This is yet another example of Islamist extremism and Pro-Iranian regime activity that raises serious concerns about radicalisation on UK campuses. Universities and Student Unions need to take much stronger action against this kind of activity, especially given the alleged role of Iran as a hostile state fomenting extremism in the UK.'
Response from the IHRC
In a statement provided to Metro, the IHRC said 'neither Mr. Shadjareh nor IHRC are linked to IRGC / Basij / the Iranian government or indeed PressTV.' They continued: 'Appearing on platforms does not make you a part of the organisers group, otherwise Mr. Shadjareh and indeed IHRC would also be aligned to and or belong to the BBC, RUSI, the British Council, ITV, Channel 4, the European Parliament, the Home Office, the UN and any number of other organisations, governmental bodies or media that we have worked with, spoken at or collaborated with. With regard to your citing William Shawcross, his report has been thoroughly debunked, including by Amnesty International, as Islamophobic and baseless.' The statement continued: 'You would be wise to learn Alice's lesson: just because Humpty Dumpty says a thing means a thing, it doesn't automatically make it so.' The IHRC also said that the claims made against ABSocs and the Muslim Student Council were 'unevidenced and somewhat fanciful.' They added that the claims made served to 'demonise Muslims in the UK, to make the Iranian threat look immediate and imminent.'
Government and Official Responses
A government spokesperson said: 'There is no place for extremist hatred and abuse on university campuses. Activities such as glorifying terrorism, fundraising for terrorist purposes, or supporting proscribed organisations are serious criminal offences and must never be tolerated. Universities should take their Prevent duties seriously and ensure robust steps are in place to stop unlawful extremist activity and keep students safe.'
Arif Ahmed, Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom at the Office for Students, said: 'We are aware of recent reports that foreign states and hostile institutions have sought to exploit the sector in ways that threaten our liberty, our values and our security. It is vital for the integrity of the sector that any such attempts fail. We will continue to work collaboratively with students, academics, government and the sector to root out interference from foreign governments and institutions.'
Metro has approached the Muslim Student Council, PressTV, the Iranian Embassy, and the Office for Students for comment.
