Investigations ongoing over alleged terror plot, says minister

Searches are continuing at a number of addresses after five men were arrested on Saturday over an alleged terror plot in the UK.

Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said hundreds of officers were carrying out forensic investigations and collecting evidence at different sites across the country during a Commons statement on Tuesday.

The men, who are Iranian nationals, are suspected of plotting to target a specific premises, Jarvis told MPs – though said he could not disclose where.

He described the arrests as “some of the largest counter-state threats and counter-terrorism actions that we have seen in recent times”.

He told the Commons: “What now follows is an incredibly complex set of investigations involving hundreds more officers carrying out forensic searches, collecting vital evidence across different sites across the country, and securing witness statements backed up by the continued efforts of our security and intelligence agencies.

“This is careful, painstaking work.”

The arrests were carried out in west London, Swindon, Rochdale, Stockport and Manchester.

Witnesses saw armed officers descend on some of the suspects and drag them away. Military personnel supported the raids, it is understood.

Police have been granted extra time to question four of the men, while a fifth has been released on bail.

While Jarvis said he could not disclose which site was allegedly being targeted, he added: “Police officers have been in contact with the affected site to make them aware and provide relevant security advice and support.”

The five arrests took place on the same day as three more Iranian men were arrested as part of a separate counter-terrorism investigation.

All three are from London and were arrested under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which authorises police to detain those suspected of “foreign power threat activity”.

Jarvis told the Commons the trio are the first Iranians to be held under the 2023 law, and said carrying out both sets of raids on one day required “intensive” planning.

Last October, Sir Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, said there had been a sharp rise in state-linked threats to the UK – including 20 linked to Iran since January 2022 which had posed “potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents”.

Referencing those remarks, Jarvis told MPs he could not comment on the details of this week’s cases or potential motivations, but said the operations came against a backdrop of “serious, growing and complex challenge from state threats”.

Last month, Jarvis said the Iranian state would be placed on an “enhanced tier” of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which is expected to launch in July and will require any individuals working for the Iranian regime in the UK to register with authorities or face jail.

Speaking on Tuesday, Jarvis added: “Let me be clear, anyone in the UK who works for the Iranian state must declare it or they will be committing a serious criminal offence.”

Conservative shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers called on the government to “be as transparent as possible” to avoid a possible “vacuum of information”.

He said the two separate investigations into Iranian nationals “raise serious questions” and urged the government to reveal their immigration status.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart asked ministers to “look closely” at whether sanctioned individuals linked to the Iranian regime have assets in the UK.