Five Iranian men who were arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack were targeting the Israeli embassy, it has been claimed.
The group of Iranians are suspected of planning the atrocity at the embassy in Kensington, west London, The Times has reported.
Counterterrorism officers swooped in to detain the men on Saturday after a suspected plot to target a single premise was uncovered by police.
Officers carried out searches at addresses in Greater Manchester, London and Swindon areas.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said the arrests followed one of the biggest counterterrorism operations in recent years.
The Home Office and the police have refused to publicise details of the alleged plot, but it is understood the Israeli embassy was the main target.
Police forensic officers search a house in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, following a raid by counterterror officers (Photo: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty)Footage from Saturday’s raids showed armed counterterrorism police and military personnel storming a property in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, before dragging out one of the suspects.
Four of the men, aged between 29 and 46, remain in custody. A fifth man, aged 24, has been bailed.
Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said it would be inappropriate for the Government to “speculate on or comment further” on the motivations behind the cases that led to the arrests of a number of Iranian nationals.
Addressing the raids in the Commons on Tuesday, the minister also refused to give details on the immigration status of the suspects when pressed by several MPs.
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The Home Office was approached for comment.
In a separate operation three other Iranian men were also arrested on Saturday at addresses in north-west London and west London. They were the first Iranian nationals to be detained under the National Security Act, Jarvis said, suggesting that they are likely being questioned over allegations that they were working on behalf of a foreign state.
Iran was the first foreign power to be listed on the top level of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs) earlier this year, aimed at protecting the UK from malign foreign influence.
It means anyone who is directed by the regime to carry out activities in the UK must declare it or face five years in prison once the scheme comes into force in July.
Announcing the move in March, Jarvis said the Islamic Republic of Iran had become “increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours”.
The head of MI5, Ken McCallum, in October last year said that authorities had stopped 20 state-backed plots hatched by Iran in the UK since 2022.
Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers on Tuesday said the two separate arrests of Iranian nationals “raise serious questions about how their networks were formed and what their intentions were”, and urged the Government to unveil the immigration status of those arrested.
The Government has also faced pressure to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organisation.
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