(Reuters) -Britain’s counter-terrorism police have arrested eight men, including seven Iranian nationals, in a number of raids across the country, the Metropolitan Police said on Sunday.
On Saturday, five men, four of whom are Iranian nationals, were detained on suspicion of terrorism offences over a plot to target a specific premises, while the nationality of the fifth man remains unknown.
The arrests were made in Swindon, west London, Stockport, Rochdale, and Manchester.
“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
In separate operation on the same day, three Iranian nationals were arrested in London as part of another counter-terrorism investigation, the Met said in a separate statement.
They are now in custody, with searches ongoing at the three addresses. The Met said this investigation was unrelated to the earlier arrests of the five men.
The police did not disclose details of the suspected plot, citing operational reasons.
The arrests come amid heightened scrutiny of Iran-backed activities in the UK, with Britain saying it has responded to more than 20 such plots since 2022 and imposing sanctions on a Swedish-based criminal network linked to Iran for targeting Israeli and Jewish interests in Europe.
The Embassy of Iran in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Toby Chopra)
