MAJOR TERROR ATTACK THWARTED IN UK - SUSPECTS ARE IRANIAN AND AT LEAST ONE HAS "CLOSE LINKS TO THE REGIME"
- susank789
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Scotland Yard counter-terror specialists and MI5 have helped foil more than 20 alleged Iran-backed terror plots in the UK since January 2022.
Stop Iran Now Via The Telegraph
May 6, 2025
One of the Iranian men arrested on suspicion of plotting a major terrorist attack in Britain has close connections to the regime in Tehran, The Telegraph understands.
The suspect, whose family runs prominent businesses in Iran, was one of five people detained on Saturday in a joint operation involving counter-terrorism police and members of the Special Forces.
It is believed the suspected terror cell was hours from unleashing an attack on “a specific premises” when the men were arrested at addresses and locations across the country.
Iranian sources in the UK told The Telegraph that at least one of those being held has close links to the government in Tehran and is “very well connected”.
The alleged use of Iranian nationals in an overseas terror plot would represent a possible change in approach, with Tehran usually preferring to hire criminal proxies to operate on its behalf.
Specialist counter-terror detectives spent the weekend questioning the five suspects as well as analysing computers and other electronic devices seized in the raids.
On Monday, Scotland Yard confirmed that officers had been granted more time to continue questioning four of the men.
A 24-year-old arrested in Manchester was released on conditional bail to a date later this month. Three other Iranian men arrested in London as part of a separate operation on Saturday continued to be held.
Details of the potential target have remained under wraps, but it is believed to have been a premises linked to a dissident Iranian organisation.
Providing an update on the investigation, Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said: “Our officers and staff are progressing what is a significant and highly complex investigation, and we still have searches and activity under way at multiple addresses across the country.
“We are working incredibly hard, with public safety at the forefront of our ongoing efforts.
“We believe that a specific premises was the target of this suspected plot and Counter-Terrorism Policing officers remain in close contact with the affected premises. At this time, we will not be providing further information about the suspected target for reasons of operational security and public safety.
“I would like to ask people to support my officers in this and not to speculate or share information that has not been confirmed by Counter-Terrorism Policing. We have clear and critical reasons not to provide more detail at this time.”
He added: “The investigation is still in its early stages, and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter.
“As always, I would ask the public to remain vigilant and, if they see or hear anything that concerns them, to contact us.
“We are working closely with local officers in the areas where we made arrests on Saturday, and I’d like to thank police colleagues around the country for their ongoing support.”
Following the arrests at the weekend, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, praised the police and security services for helping to interrupt what she described as two of the “biggest counter state threat and counter-terrorism operations that we have seen in recent years”.
Members of the UK Special Forces are believed to have assisted counter-terrorism officers in Saturday’s raids, with a defence source confirming it was a “cross-agency effort, which the military supported”.
People in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where a 40-year-old Iranian man was arrested, described how masked men carrying firearms used flash bombs to storm a terraced property.
The suspect was led shirtless from the property before being taken for questioning.
An Iranian dissident has claimed counter-terror police visited him to warn of risks to his security a day after he posted a video online, criticising the Tehran regime.
Mohamad Khoshbayan, 42, told The Times police suggested that he mix up his daily routine, gave travel advice and said he should improve CCTV coverage at his home.
Scotland Yard counter-terror specialists and MI5 have helped foil more than 20 alleged Iran-backed terror plots in the UK since January 2022.
In December 2023, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, 31, from Chechnya, was found guilty of carrying out hostile reconnaissance on the headquarters of Iran International, a Persian-language television channel based in west London.
In March last year, Pouria Zeraati, a journalist with Iran International, was stabbed by two men near his home in south-west London. Two Romanian men have since been charged in connection with the attack.