March 6 (UPI) — Counter-terrorism police in London arrested four Iranian men early Friday on suspicion of conducting surveillance for Iranian intelligence of individuals and locations linked to the Jewish community in the capital.
The suspects, one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals aged between 22 and 55, were detained shortly after 1 a.m. local time in raids on addresses in north London and Watford, just north of the city, under the National Security Act, Metropolitan Police said in a news release.
Searches of at least three addresses in the north London borough of Barnet were still underway, said the Met.
Six other suspects, all males aged between 20 and 49, were arrested at one of the locations raided in London on suspicion of assisting an offender and assaulting police.
“Today’s arrests are part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it,” said Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing for London.
“We understand the public may be concerned, in particular the Jewish community, and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them, then to contact us,” she added.
The arrests come as the latest development in a long history of covert activity by the Iranian regime on British soil, mostly targeting dissidents, exiled Iranian news organizations providing independent coverage to people inside Iran and the Iranian diaspora, and groups opposing the regime.
“Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism globally and sadly, that is in effect in our own society as well,” British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told ITV television on Friday morning.
“Our intelligence services and counter-terrorism police have thwarted lots of action over the last few years,” he added.
On Saturday, in his announcement that Britain was joining the U.S-Israeli offensive against Iran in a “defensive” role, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Iranian aggression against Britain’s Middle East allies, saying the United Kingdom had long been a target.
“Even in the United Kingdom, the Iranian regime poses a direct threat to dissidents and to the Jewish community. Over the last year alone, they have backed more than 20 potentially lethal attacks on U.K. soil.”
In May, three Iranian men were charged over allegedly conducting surveillance and reconnaissance of U.K.-based journalists working for the Iran International news outlet to enable “serious violence” to be committed against them.
Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, of London, are accused of “engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service” under the National Security Act.
A plea hearing is scheduled for Sept. 26 and a provisional trial date set for Oct. 5.
Iran International, a Persian-language satellite TV channel and multilingual digital news operation established in 2017, puts out highly critical coverage of the Iranian government which has banned it as a terrorist organization.
British media and U.S. academics have previously reported links between Iran International and backers at the most senior level in Saudi Arabia, which Iran International denies.
