UK police arrest several Iranian men over alleged attack plot

LONDON AP British counterterrorism officers arrested several Iranian men over an alleged plot to attack an unspecified target in London the Metropolitan Police force revealed Sunday Police declared five men aged between and were detained on Saturday in various parts of England on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act Four are Iranian citizens and the nationality of the fifth is still being established All the individuals are being questioned at police stations and have not been charged Police revealed they are searching several properties in London Manchester in northwest England and Swindon in western England Police revealed the attack plot targeted a single location that was not being named for operational reasons Commander Dominic Murphy head of the force s Counter Terrorism Command commented police are still working to establish a motive as well as to identify whether there may be any further jeopardy to the general Separately three other Iranian men aged and were arrested in London on suspicion of a national protection offense as part of an unrelated study police announced Home Secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned the arrests were serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national guard threats The regime continues to work with police and intelligence agencies to aid all the action and assurance assessments that are needed to keep the country safe she disclosed Police have not determined whether the alleged plot is connected to Iran but Britain s domestic intelligence utility has warned of a growing threat from attackers linked to Tehran In October the head of the MI domestic safeguard function Ken McCallum reported his agents and police have tackled potentially lethal plots backed by Iran since greater part aimed at Iranians in the U K who oppose the country s administration He explained at the time there was there is the vulnerability of an increase in or broadening of Iranian state aggression in the U K if conflicts in the Middle East deepened In March Pouria Zeraati a presenter at a Farsi-language television station critical of the Iranian regime was stabbed in the leg outside his home in London Two men were later arrested in Romania and charged over the attack The U K s official terror threat level stands at substantial the middle of a five-point scale meaning an attack is likely Source