British police have foiled what is believed to have been a planned terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in London. Five men with Iranian backgrounds were arrested in a large-scale counter-terrorism operation last weekend, reports The Times. The operation, carried out last Saturday, took place just hours before a possible attack could have been carried out. Police were assisted by armed special forces and intelligence services in an operation described as one of the largest of its kind in recent British history.
The arrests took place in several locations across the UK, including Rochdale, Swindon, Stockport and Manchester. Four of the men, aged between 29 and 46, are still in custody. The fifth, a 24-year-old, has been released on bail.
Police have not released details of the suspected plot, but according to British media, the Israeli embassy was the primary target. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper describes the case as one of the most extensive counter-terrorism operations in the UK in recent years.
On the same day, three other Iranian nationals were arrested in a separate operation, charged under the UK’s new National Security Act. According to sources, they are being investigated for possible intelligence activities on behalf of a foreign state, probably Iran.
Since January 2022, police and MI5 have foiled more than 20 assassination and abduction plots in the UK linked to Iranian terrorists.
The investigation comes at a time when security services across Europe have warned of increased activity from Iranian terrorists. Iran has been linked to a number of attacks against Israeli embassies over the past year. In October, shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, and a few days later two explosions were reported near the embassy in Copenhagen. The Swedish security service, Säpo, has suggested that Iran is behind both incidents.
Earlier this year, an explosive device was also found on the grounds of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. Mossad reports that Iranian-backed criminal networks in Europe are behind several such incidents. In Belgium last year, two grenade-like objects were thrown at the Israeli embassy in Brussels.