Britain denies funding Iran's influence operation in West

The British government has not funded Iran's influence network in Western countries, the UK Foreign Office told Iran International, rejecting remarks by a Swedish-Iranian scholar who said his involvement in the scheme was backed by the UK government.

"We have no record of funding for the IEI or any departmental work with them," the UK Foreign Office said in response to an inquiry about funding for the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), a network linked to Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In late January, a report by Sweden’s TV4 revealed Roozbeh Parsi, the director of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs’ Middle East program, was involved in the IEI, a network formed by Tehran to expand its influence in the West.

Parsi denied any cooperation with the Iranian government, saying his participation in the Iran-led initiative was backed up by the UK government.

"I was doing this on behalf of the British Foreign Office," he wrote in a response published by Expressen, one of Sweden's most prominent dailies, on January 31. "For the British Foreign Office, which financed our participation, and other governments in the West, it was about strengthening their positions ahead of the negotiations on [Iran's] nuclear program."

The Swedish media's investigation, which cited emails provided by Iran International, followed a 2023 joint exposé by Iran International and Semafor that detailed Tehran’s efforts to cultivate relationships with academics and analysts abroad to expand its soft power.

Inquiry into allegations

In 2023, a spokesman for the European Council of Foreign Relations (ECFR) also told Iran International that "the Iran Expert Initiative was a European-government backed initiative that ECFR staff sometimes took part in but did not lead on."

The ECFR spokesman declined to name the European government.

Samafor's Steve Clemons cited in 2024 a British government source as saying that the funding came from London.

Sweden's Foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on Thursday the country had launched an inquiry into allegations that Parsi was involved in the Tehran-led influence network aimed at shaping Western policy.

The top diplomat said the government had contacted the Swedish Institute of International Affairs for more information, calling the allegations “very serious.”

She warned that Iran, along with Russia and China, is conducting extensive intelligence operations in Sweden.