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 mentioned Sunday Police commented 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 defendants are being questioned at police stations and have not been charged Police explained they are searching several properties in London Manchester in northwest England and Swindon in western England Police disclosed 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 declared police are still working to establish a motive as well as to identify whether there may be any further menace to the population Separately three other Iranian men aged and were arrested in London on suspicion of a national measure offense as part of an unrelated inspection police disclosed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper disclosed the arrests were serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national prevention threats The executive continues to work with police and intelligence agencies to backing all the action and safeguard assessments that are needed to keep the country safe she stated Police have not determined whether the alleged plot is connected to Iran but Britain s domestic intelligence operation has warned of a growing threat from attackers linked to Tehran In October the head of the MI domestic defense operation Ken McCallum announced his agents and police have tackled potentially lethal plots backed by Iran since most of aimed at Iranians in the U K who oppose the country s government He noted at the time there was there is the threat 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 ruling body 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