British police have arrested eight men as part of two separate counterterrorism investigations.
Five men, four of whom are Iranian nationals, were arrested in London, Swindon and Greater Manchester on Saturday as part of an investigation into a plot to “target specific premises,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement early Sunday.
The site targeted by the plot, which was not named for “operational reasons,” has been made aware and is being supported by police, the Met added.
Three other men, all Iranian, were arrested in London on Saturday as part of a separate counterterror police probe. Police said the two cases are unconnected.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the force’s Counter Terrorism Command, said of the first operation that police are still working to establish a motive “as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public.”
U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper praised the police after Saturday’s arrests.
“Protecting national security is the first duty of the government and our police and security services have our strong support in their vital work,” she told the PA news agency in a statement.
“These are serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats,” she added.
Last year, the head of the U.K’s MI5 security service, Ken McCallum, said that Iran and Russia are behind a “staggering rise” in attempts at assassination, sabotage and other crimes in Britain. He said at the time his agents and police had tackled 20 “potentially lethal” plots backed by Iran since 2022, most aimed at Iranians in Britain.
And he added there was a risk “of an increase in, or broadening of, Iranian state aggression in the U.K.” if conflicts in the Middle East deepened.
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