Seven Iranians arrested in British anti-terror operations

An imminent plot to stage an attack in the UK saw Britain's counter-terrorism police arrest eight men, including seven Iranians.

A series of raids across the country was overseen by the Metropolitan Police's specialist command during a holiday weekend when the country is gearing up for an 80th anniversary commemoration of the Second World War. Chris Phillips, a former head of the command, told UK media that the suspects were probably under surveillance until the police decided the plot was “getting too close to call”.

“Its a particular site, which tends to mean it's what we would consider state-related terrorism,” he said. “It's very good news that the police and security services almost certainly were following these people and have stopped the attack before it could take place.”

A cell in West London composed of three Iranians aged between 39 and 55 was arrested in London in the early hours of Sunday as part of a separate counter-terrorism investigation. Those arrests came under the powers of the national security legislation passed in 2023 that boosted powers to act against state directed plots. This includes underground activities such as sabotage, assisting foreign intelligence and espionage.

The suspects are now in custody, with searches continuing at the three addresses. The Met said this investigation was unrelated to the earlier arrests of the five men.

On Saturday, five men, four of whom are Iranian, were detained on suspicion of terrorism offences over a plot to target a specific premises, while the nationality of the fifth man remains unknown.

The arrests were made in Swindon, West London, Stockport, Rochdale and Manchester. Social media footage of the operations purported to show armed police surrounding and entering a council estate house by force. A man was removed and the house remained cordoned off on Sunday as forensic investigations proceeded.

Local press reports said the man arrested in Swindon was detained on the town's high street outside a coffee shop.

The suspects are reported to have been in preparations for a terrorist act. They were aged between 29 and 46. Mr Phillips said the police would be looking to see if any of those arrested had come into the country on illegal small boats crossings through the English Channel.

“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of inquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

The arrests come amid intense scrutiny of Iran-backed activities in the UK, with Britain saying it has responded to more than 20 such plots since 2022 and imposing sanctions on a Swedish-based criminal network linked to Iran for attacking Israeli and Jewish interests in Europe.

The embassy of Iran in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ken McCallum, the head of the MI5 security service, has warned repeatedly of several plots emanating from the Iranian state, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of State Security.

The 20 potentially lethal plots tracked by the UK were described last year by officials as developing at an unprecedented pace and scale. The Iranian activities in the UK have both increased and broadened in focus.

Jonathan Hall, the UK's counter-terrorism and foreign state influence laws adviser, is conducting a review for the government on the IRGC's activities and how proscription would help the authorities ward off its threats.

The majority have been focused on dissidents and other Iranian-linked targets who “don't toe the line” by curtailing their activities. A series of centres of Iranian activity in the UK have come under scrutiny from both the security services and the Charities Commissioner regulations.

The Islamic Centre of England in Maida Vale has been under warning from the Commission since 2020 but there has been no findings that would lead to its shutdown. In that year it held commemorations after the assassination of Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani, who was killed in a US strike near Baghdad airport.

Its director Seyed Hashem Moosavi was the acknowledged representative of Mr Khamenei in the UK and stepped down in 2022.

The centre continues to operate maintaining it serves the community in West London and is not linked to Mr Khamenei's religious role in Iran.

In 2023, an Austrian was convicted of carrying out “hostile reconnaissance” against the London headquarters of Iran International, a broadcaster which is critical of Iran's government. The following year, a British journalist of Iranian origin who worked for Iran International was stabbed in London.

Earlier this year the government placed Iran on the highest tier of the new foreign influence register, requiring it to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK.