Seven Iranian nationals arrested in UK counter-terror raids

Counter-terrorism police have arrested eight people, including seven Iranian nationals, in raids across England connected to two separate investigations.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed today that five men aged between 29 and 46 had been detained yesterday on suspicion of preparing “a terrorist act”, four of whom are Iranian citizens and a fifth whose nationality is still being established.

The force then announced the arrests of another three people aged 39, 44 and 55, two of whom were also Iranian, as part of an unrelated investigation.

Details of the suspected offences in either case have not been disclosed, with the Met citing operational concerns.

The eight men, who are being questioned and have not yet been charged, were arrested in Swindon, west London, Rochdale, Stockport and Manchester, with police carrying out searches in several properties linked to the group.

The head of London’s Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy, said police are exploring several lines of enquiry to establish a motive and to identify “whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter”.

Unverified footage posted to social media purportedly showed a joint deployment of Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFO) and UK Special Forces conducting an operation in a home in Rochdale.

The arrests come as the UK faces increasing concerns over Iran-linked terrorism. Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said in October that the intelligence body had tackled 20 “potentially lethal” plots backed by Tehran up to that point since 2022.

Most of the plots, he said, were aimed at Iranian dissidents living in the UK who are opposed to the Islamic Iranian regime.

Similarly, in an interview with the JC in March, former MI6 boss Sir Richard Dearlove claimed that Iran and its network of proxies constitutes a “threat” to British Jews in particular.

Last month, Britain imposed sanctions on a Swedish-based criminal group, Foxtrot Network, and its leader Rawa Majid, over accusations that it is involved in attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary said then: “The Iranian regime uses criminal gangs across the world to threaten people,” adding that the UK “will not tolerate these threats.”

He said that the sanctions “forms part of the UK Government’s ongoing response to Iranian hostilities in Europe.”

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London, England (Credit: Rob Stothard/Getty Images)Getty Images

And in February, the government announced that Iran would be the first nation placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (Firs), which forces any Iranian national who directly or indirectly works for the Islamic Republic to register their presence in the UK or else face a custodial sentence.

The UK has sanctioned more than 450 Iranian individuals and entities under the scheme “in response to the regime’s human rights violations, nuclear weapons programme and malign influence internationally.”