UK Police Arrest Iranian Nationals in Counterterrorism Raids

The UK home secretary said seven of the men were Iranian nationals, and police said a ’specific premises’ was targeted in one of the plots.

The New Scotland Yard sign outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters in London on Feb. 3, 2017. Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire

UK police arrested eight people, seven of whom are Iranian nationals, in two separate counterterrorist operations over the weekend.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Counter Terrorism Command for London’s Metropolitan Police, told Sky News that one of the investigations involved a plot against a specific premises, which he declined to identify.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These are major operations that have taken place and the ongoing investigation is immensely important ... it involves Iranian nationals in both investigations and we are supporting the police and the security agencies in the investigations that they are taking and the security assessments that they are doing.

“But this reflects the complexity of the kinds of challenges to our national security that we continue to face ... and that is why protecting our national security, including supporting these extremely professional operations and investigations, remains our top priority.”

The Metropolitan Police said five men, including four Iranian nationals, were arrested across the UK on May 3 on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act that would “target a single premises.”

In a statement, the police said the four Iranians had been arrested under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, and the fifth man—whose nationality was “still being established”—had been detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

The police said that as part of the operation, a 46-year-old man had been arrested in west London; a 29-year-old man had been detained in Swindon, in the west of England; and two men, aged 29 and 40, had been arrested in Stockport and Rochdale, near Manchester, England.

The fifth man, whose age has not yet been ascertained, was also detained in the Manchester area.

‘Foreign Power Threat Activity’

In another statement, the force said three Iranian men were arrested in London on May 3 as part of a separate operation.

The Metropolitan Police said the men, aged 39, 44, and 55, were arrested and detained under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which allows the police to arrest anyone it “reasonably suspects is, or has been, involved in foreign power threat activity.”

The police statement reads: “The investigation relates to a suspected plot to target a specific premises. Officers have been in contact with the affected site to make them aware and provide relevant advice and support, but for operational reasons, we are not able to provide further information at this time.”

According to Murphy, “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.”

Counterterrorism officers spent May 4 searching several properties in London, Swindon, and the Manchester area.

Forensic officers in blue overalls were seen entering a house in Rochdale.

“Since the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022 we’ve seen plot after plot here in the UK, at an unprecedented pace and scale,” MI5 head Ken McCallum said in a speech in October 2024, referring to a 22-year-old woman who died in Tehran after being detained by the Iranian regime’s morality police for not wearing a veil.

“Since January 2022, with police partners, we have responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents.”

MI5—which is under the Home Office—tackles domestic threats, while MI6 is the UK’s foreign intelligence service.

‘Hostile Reconnaissance’

In December 2023, a 31-year-old Austrian national, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, was convicted of spying on Iran International, a London-based television channel that is critical of the Iranian government.

The court ruled that Dovtaev visited the channel’s premises in Chiswick, west London, on Feb. 11, 2023, to carry out “hostile reconnaissance.”

He was later jailed for three years and six months for attempting to collect information useful for terrorism.

Iran International was branded a terrorist organization by the Iranian regime after the channel covered massive protests in several Iranian cities in September 2022 following the death of Amini.

In March 2024, Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for a Farsi-language television station critical of the Iranian government, was stabbed in the leg outside his home in London.

In December 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that two men—Nandito Badea, 19, and George Stana, 23—had been arrested in Romania and charged with wounding Zeraati with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

They have been extradited to the UK and will face trial later this year.

The Associated Press, Reuters, and PA Media contributed to this report.