British terrorist officers have arrested eight men, including seven from Iran, in connection with two separate investigations, London metropolitan police said on Sunday.
In one case, the four Iranians and another man whose nationality has not yet been determined, were detained on Saturday for allegedly preparing terrorist acts against a single site.
“The investigation is linked to a suspected conspiracy to target a particular facility,” police said in a statement issued early Sunday. Police added that the site was not named “for operational reasons.”
Dominik Murphy, head of Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism command, said the investigation is “moving rapidly” and that police will “continue to work closely with people from affected sites to update them.”
He added: “The investigation is still in its early stages and is exploring various research lines to establish potential motivations and identifying whether there is any additional risk to the public related to this issue.”
Police said two Iranian citizens were 29, one was 46 and the other was 40. The other man was arrested in the Manchester area.
In a later statement, police said three Iranians, ages 39, 44 and 55, were detained in separate locations in London on Saturday, but their arrests were not related to other investigations.
“All three men have been detained and the search continues at three addresses,” police said. They added that men were detained under the National Security Act of 2023 and introduced to enhance protection against hostile conduct against the UK.
Interior Secretary Yvette Cooper described the arrest as “a serious event that demonstrates ongoing requirements for adapting to national security threats.”
She added: “The government continues to work with the police and intelligence reporting agencies to help assess all the actions and security necessary to keep the country safe.”
Details of the types of plots studied are not provided.
In a speech last year, Ken McCallum, head of the UK’s domestic security agency MI5, identified Iran as a country with concerns about the counterterrorism police. He said since January 2022, security services had responded to 20 Iranian support plots pose potentially deadly threats to British citizens and residents.
McCallum cited the man’s incarceration as an example last December for reconnaissance at Iran’s International Headquarters, a Persian-language opposition television channel run from the UK.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government would “clearly update the public as much as possible,” but “it’s not appropriate to comment further, given that these are live investigations.”
