Authorities in the United Kingdom thwarted an alleged imminent terrorist plot after British police arrested eight suspects, including seven Iranians, on two separate occasions, amidst speculations that they were planning to attack a Jewish community site.
The Metropolitan Police announced that British counter-terrorism police conducted two separate raids that led to the arrest of eight men, including seven Iranians.
The first operation saw the arrest of five men, including four Iranian nationals between the ages of 29 and 40, on May 3rd in West London and the English cities and towns of Swindon, Stockport, Rochdale, and Manchester. The fifth man's nationality was not known. In a second operation that is not related to the first, counter-terrorism police arrested three Iranian nationals, aged between 39 and 55, on the same day in London.
"We are exploring various lines of enquiry to ... identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter," Commander Dominic Murphy, who heads London’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said.
He also urged the public to “remain vigilant“ and alert the authorities if they noticed anything suspicious.
The Telegraph reported that one of the Iranian nationals arrested in the first operation has close ties to the Islamic Republic, with the suspect’s family reportedly running major businesses in Iran, citing Iranian sources in the UK.
The eight suspects were arrested for being involved in foreign power threat activities under the country’s National Security Act of 2023, which was passed to counter the actions of countries deemed hostile to the UK within the country.
The five suspects detained after the first operation were also accused of attempting to carry out a terrorist plot to target specific premises, allegedly a synagogue or another Jewish site. Police also said that searches were ongoing at their addresses.
The UK’s Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said on May 4th that the two raids were among the most extensive counterterrorism operations that Britain has seen in recent years. She did not respond directly when asked about possible links between the suspects and the Iranian regime, but hinted at a potential connection.
“The significant operations carried out and the ongoing investigation are of immense importance, and of course, Iranian citizens are involved in both investigations,“ she said. “We support the police and security services in their investigations and security assessments.“
The arrests also came at a time of intense scrutiny of suspected Iran-backed activities in the UK and louder calls to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The head of the domestic intelligence agency MI5, Ken McCallum, said in October last year that Tehran is behind “plot after plot“ in the UK and that it uncovered five new planned attacks last year, taking the total to 20 since January 2022.
The Islamic Republic has been accused of carrying out terrorist plots against Jewish and Israeli sites and persons, as well as Iranian dissidents living abroad. In one case, an exiled Iranian dissident and journalist, Pouria Zeraati, was stabbed outside his home in London in March 2024. He was a presenter for the London-based opposition news outlet Iran International.
