As Pouria Zeraati was crossing the street between his Wimbledon home and his car in south London in March 2024, he was confronted by two men. One held him firmly as the other stabbed him three times in the leg before they both fled.<\/p>\n
It was later said to be a targeted attack <\/a>on behalf of the Iranian regime in Tehran. A punishment for Zeraati\u2019s work as a journalist covering Iran<\/a>. He survived, but the ambush is one of dozens of violent incidents in recent years linked to foreign states. <\/p>\n Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia and Iran have all been blamed<\/a> for targeting critics and dissidents living in the UK in the past decade, and linked to incidents involving physical assaults, attempted kidnap, stabbings and an acid attack.<\/p>\n CCTV of Pouria Zeraati being stabbed in the leg. Photograph: Unpixs\/Met Police<\/p>\n State-threat investigations run by MI5 jumped by 48% in a year<\/a>, and there have been more than 20 threat-to-life cases relating to Iran since 2022.<\/p>\n This week, arson attacks on properties connected to Keir Starmer in May 2025 were linked to Russia<\/a>. Two men were also jailed on Thursday for surveilling<\/a> Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners living in the UK on behalf of China through a \u201cshadow policing\u201d operation.<\/p>\n Suddenly, say parliamentarians and lawyers, the UK has become a \u201chunting ground for authoritarian regimes\u201d.<\/p>\n From a topic consigned to spy novels, such state-targeting is becoming commonplace, leaving large numbers of individuals who had sought sanctuary in the UK in fear of their lives<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iranian TV host Pouria Zeraati, 36, who was stabbed outside his home in Wimbledon, London. Photograph: @pouriazeraati\/X<\/p>\n The former UK security minister Dan Jarvis has said<\/a> the UK maintains a \u201chard operating environment\u201d for those states trying to target individuals.<\/p>\n But in recent weeks the Guardian has spoken to various diaspora communities in the UK \u2013 Hong Kong, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India and others \u2013 who have alleged receiving threats, sexualised harassment<\/a>, economic coercion<\/a>, state-linked legal cases<\/a> and, in some cases, violent attacks.<\/p>\n They described sparse, incoherent and inadequate responses from UK authorities, and spoke of the detrimental impact on their health and safety living in the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cWhereas historically the UK has been less targeted than other places in the world, that position has changed in recent times,\u201d prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said in Zeraati\u2019s trial at the Old Bailey last month.<\/p>\n Quick GuideTransnational repressionShow<\/p>\n Transnational repression is the state-led targeting of refugees, dissidents and ordinary citizens living in exile. It involves the use of\u00a0electronic surveillance,\u00a0physical assault,\u00a0intimidation\u00a0and threats against family members to silence criticism. The Guardian\u2019s Rights and freedom series is publishing a series of articles<\/a> to highlight the dangers faced by citizens in countries including the UK.<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UK government is not prepared to stand up to anybody,\u201d says Ben Keith, a barrister specialising in cross-border cases, as other experts say the UK is wedded to ineffective diplomacy that is doing nothing to stop the attacks.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Guardian, Clive Stafford Smith, an American lawyer helping victims of state-led targeting, says: \u201cThe FBI have advised victims not to travel to the UK \u2026 because the British government does not take meaningful action when dictators go hunting their dissidents.\u201d<\/p>\n The UK overhauled its legislation with the 2023 National Security Act, including further offences around espionage, sabotage and foreign interference, but it still lacks a clear strategy for dealing with the problem, says Lord Alton, chair of the Joint Committee of Human Rights (JCHR). There is also no accurate data on the number of attacks taking place.<\/p>\n A \u2018Wanted: dead or alive\u2019 poster featuring Zeraati that was put up in Tehran, Iran, in November 2022, which was shown at Woolwich Crown Court during the trial of Nandito Badea and George Stana. Photograph: Counter Terrorism Policing\/PA<\/p>\n Roshaan Khattak, an exiled Pakistani activist and former researcher at Cambridge University, says he has faced<\/a> intimidation and threats he believes have come from Pakistani-linked state actors as a result of his advocacy on highlighting human rights abuses in Balochistan, a region in south-west Pakistan that has sought independence for decades.<\/p>\n In November 2025, Khattak says he received a message on Instagram saying, \u201cwe had warned you to stop criticising us on international platforms\u201d and \u201cstop playing into hands of enemies or else you will be killed no matter where you are\u201d.<\/p>\n The message also included details of Pakistan<\/a> mobile numbers belonging to him and his father, and his Pakistan passport and ID card. \u201cWhere are you going to run?\u201d the message on Instagram said. \u201cDon\u2019t forget even Cambridge and UK is not safe,\u201d it added. \u201cDon\u2019t be stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n A screenshot of the threat Roshaan Khattak, an exiled Pakistani activist and former researcher at Cambridge University, says he received in November 2025. Photograph: Handout<\/p>\n Khattack says he always looks over his shoulder when leaving the house to see if he is being followed, or if anyone nearby is acting strangely. \u201cIt is next to impossible dealing with the police in the UK \u2026 Either they mock you or they\u2019re like, who are you? Or what is Balochistan? Is it in Qatar? They\u2019re sort of turning a blind eye \u2026 They don\u2019t want to name Pakistan an offender.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson at the Pakistan high commission said: \u201cPakistan firmly rejects any malicious suggestions that it engages in transnational repression or unlawful activities anywhere in the world, including the United Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest perpetrator in recent years is Iran, with multiple Iranian activists, journalists, academics and students telling the Guardian they had faced threats, surveillance or intimidation<\/a> on British soil, which they believed were linked to Iran.<\/p>\n For Nahid Bahmani, a member of the central committee and political bureau of Komala, the Kurdish opposition party, the threat has meant years of forced impermanence. Last year, police informed her husband Abdullah Mohtadi, the party\u2019s secretary general, that they had foiled a terrorist plot against him. They have had to move house every few years.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not simply a physical relocation,\u201d says Bahmani. \u201cIt creates a deep psychological insecurity. You never feel that you belong anywhere. You always feel that everything is temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n Although they had gone through greater physical danger in Iran<\/a>, says Bahmani, insecurity in exile felt different: \u201cIn Iran, we could draw on social and emotional networks, while in Britain we were often left with only our homes and the police.\u201d<\/p>\n All those interviewed say they had been in contact with police or counter-terrorism officers and had received safety advice, including installing CCTV, avoiding going out alone at night, not sharing locations on social media, and even changing their car and home.<\/p>\n But Izzy Cutts, policy and parliamentary affairs manager at the Foreign Policy Centre, says there were \u201cbig gaps around incidents that fall below the criminal threshold\u201d, which she says was leaving communities and individuals \u201cvery scared\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI am in a permanent state of anxiety, and anxiety creates paranoia,\u201d says one Iranian activist living in London. \u201cAt night, any noise sends me straight to check my CCTV. If a car drives behind me for too long, I think it is following me. I avoid staying out late and often turn down invitations from people I don\u2019t know well. You impose limitations on your normal life so that you can stay safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP and former chair of the foreign affairs committee, accuses the Labour government of \u201crewarding one of the states most responsible\u201d for the issue by granting the Chinese Communist party, a new embassy in London \u201cdespite their illegal campaign of repression\u201d on Hongkongers in the UK.<\/p>\n As well as this week\u2019s China spy case, in the past Hong Kong protesters have also allegedly been attacked<\/a> in the UK by Chinese activists.<\/p>\n