Britain warns Iran it will not tolerate hostile activity on UK soil

Sept 24 (Reuters) - Britain's foreign minister met his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and told him his country would "not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil" from groups linked to Iran.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also discussed the war in the Middle East, the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Britain's "unwavering resolve to combat threats from Iranian-linked groups on UK soil," a Foreign Office statement said.

"The Foreign Secretary reiterated the UK's unwavering resolve to combat threats from Iranian-linked groups on UK soil, including attacks on the British Jewish community," it said.

In July, Britain banned support for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a linked group following a series of antisemitic attacks, using new legal powers designed to stop the use of state-sponsored proxies.

Iran has previously denied using proxies. The British statement did not say how Araqchi responded to Miliband.

A statement on Araqchi’s Telegram account said he had used the meeting to call for a correction to "the destructive and irresponsible approaches of some European governments towards Iran and regional developments."

He also said an "insistence on interfering in countries’ internal affairs and the instrumental use of human rights concepts is in no way acceptable."

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre said last week Iranian state-linked cyber actors had used a spyware family known as "CHOSEN BRICK" to steal emails, messages and other sensitive information through "spear-phishing" campaigns on messaging platforms including WhatsApp and Telegram.

"The Foreign Secretary made clear that Britain will not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil and set out the measures the Government has taken in response," the Foreign Office statement added.

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru and William James in London; Editing by Stephen Coates and Philippa Fletcher)