An alleged terrorism plot was foiled by police after four Iranian men were arrested in armed raids amid growing concern about Tehran-backed plots in the UK.
Eight men, including seven Iranian nationals, were detained in two separate counter-terrorism operations across England on Saturday.
Five of the suspects were arrested as part of an alleged plot to target a “specific premises”, the Metropolitan police said. Of those, four were Iranian and the nationality of the fifth was still being established.
The force did not reveal the site but said it had been identified with the advice and support from counter-terror officers.
Footage verified by the Guardian shows armed officers wearing military fatigues storming a terraced property in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Marksmen carrying semi-automatic rifles and wearing helmets and body armour can be seen in the footage removing a partially clothed man from the building in handcuffs before ordering him to the ground.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the arrests were sparked by “serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats”.
The nature of the alleged terror plot is not known but comes after security services warned about the growing threat from Iran-backed criminals.
Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said in October that Tehran was behind “plot after plot” in the UK and that it had uncovered five new planned attacks last year, taking the total since January 2022 to 20.
Scotland Yard said the five men, including four Iranians, were being questioned under section 5 of the Terrorism Act on suspicion of planning an attack.
Three of those arrested were held in the Manchester area, with another arrested in west London and a fifth in Swindon.
Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said: “This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated.
“The investigation is still in its early stages, and we are exploring various lines of inquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter.”
Murphy urged the public to “remain vigilant” and alert the police if they see anything suspicious.
One of the Iranian men was arrested by armed officers near a busy children’s play area in an affluent suburb of Stockport, leaving residents shaken.
“It’s terrifying,” said Sarah Cash, 49, who was told by police she could not collect her son from the play area in Cheadle Heath where the arrest unfolded on Saturday evening.
Cash said she was concerned about the alleged target of the attack – which police have not disclosed for operational reasons – and whether there was any ongoing risk: “Where is that premises? There’s so many big things around here – there’s Manchester airport, the Co-op Arena.”
Images from the scene show a number of masked officers along the tree-lined street where the suspect was detained outside a £12,000-a-year preparatory school.
In Rochdale, neighbours of the 40-year-old Iranian man who was arrested said they were “really terrified” as heavily armed officers swooped on the quiet terraced street where children were playing shortly before 6pm on Saturday.
Amy Openshaw, 36, said her five-year-old daughter was playing in their garden with her six and nine-year-old nieces when they ran inside saying “masked men” had told them to get in the house.
She said: “As a mum you think, what do you mean masked men in my garden? We heard a big bang. It sounded like a bomb had gone off – it was well loud. It ricocheted through the house.”
Openshaw, a painter and decorator, said the girls laid on the floor because they were scared: “There was lots of noises going on but then they brought him out and were saying, ‘Get on your knees, get on your knees’ and there was police dogs there.”
She said her brain had “gone into overdrive” since the dramatic arrest as she was left wondering what was going on inside the end-terrace property, which overlooks a playing field.
Another neighbour, who lives three doors down, said she did not know the Iranian man but believed he lived in the house with three or four others.
“It was really terrifying,” she said. “It’s a house that homes vulnerable people. You just see them coming and going all the time.”
Of the moment police raided the property, she added: “I heard the bang but I felt the bang at the same time. I ran upstairs. I just saw a flood of people run past my window. There were people with guns pointing towards the end house.”
She said the suspect appeared to be bleeding from his side.
There remained a heavy police presence on East Street on Rochdale, where blue-suited forensics officers could be seen removing evidence from the property.
Three other Iranian men were detained in a separate counter-terrorism operation in London on Saturday.
The Metropolitan police said two of the men, aged 39 and 44, were arrested at separate addresses in north-west London and one man, aged 55, was arrested at an address in west London.
It added: “This investigation is not connected to the arrest of five people yesterday as part of a separate Met counter-terrorism operation. Enquiries remain ongoing.”
Source: theguardian.com
