British counter-terror police arrested five men, including four Iranian nationals, on Saturday, fearing that an attack on a “specific premises” was imminent. Speculation has since mounted—including within the establishment press—that the target may have been a synagogue or another specifically Jewish establishment.
Three other Iranian nationals were later arrested as part of a separate operation, with counter-terror police reportedly fearing that these men would attempt to either leave the UK or destroy evidence following the earlier arrests.
One of the suspected terrorists accused of plotting an attack is also claimed to be “very well-connected” to the Hamas-backing regime in Tehran.
Responding to reports, Britain’s Campaign Against Antisemitism charity criticised the Labour government for doing “nothing to proscribe Iran’s [Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] IRGC, which sponsors terrorism around the world and is known to be active in the UK.”
This main branch of the Iranian armed forces—which journalist Jake Wallis Simons described as “a shadowy organisation that manages to combine Islamic fanaticism and terrorist ambitions with all the training, equipment and support of a modern nation-state”—is banned elsewhere, including in America.
Gaza-born writer Hamza Howidy later commented that if reports are true, “this isn’t a ‘cause’ or a ‘conflict.’ It’s outright terrorism.” He added there should be
No excuse for targeting Jews or any community—this is terrorism, pure and simple.
The head of London’s Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command said that officers “remain in close contact with the affected premises,” adding that “we have clear and critical reasons not to provide more detail at this time.”
