Two Iranian Men Charged Over Plot Targeting UK Jewish Community

Two Iranian nationals who entered the UK on small boats have been charged with preparing acts of terrorism, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, with tensions between Britain and Iran already high over another security incident.The individuals, identified by the police as Salam Ahmadyan, 36, of Liverpool, and Rahman Salehi, 34, of Salford, were arrested in Manchester on Sept. 20, on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack on the city’s Jewish community.“

It is alleged that the two men were in contact with an overseas third party who may be in Iran in relation to the plot,” the Met said. The charges come less than a week after five men were arrested near the Royal Air Force Fairford base in Gloucestershire, England — a facility that’s been used to launch US strikes on Iran — on suspicion of preparing a terrorist incident. While the five were later released on bail, police said on Thursday they had also arrested a British-Iranian dual national.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham earlier this week said there were “strong indications that Iran played a part” in the matter at RAF Fairford. The Iranian Embassy in London rejected those claims. Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said the week had “brought into sharp focus some of the wider threats being projected into the UK from Iran.” But she added that the alleged plot in Manchester and the RAF Fairford matter “are not connected in any way.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “recent events are a stark reminder of the threats posed against this country from both terrorists and foreign state actors.”“ I know this will be especially true in Manchester, as we mark one year since the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue,” she added in a statement, referring to the fatal stabbing last year of two people on Yom Kippur.The two men charged in the latest case arrived by small boats in 2020 and 2023, according to the Home Office.

One was granted asylum and the other has a live asylum claim. “The fact both suspects arrived by small boat several years ago is a reminder of the importance of our relentless work to tackle illegal migration into this country,” Mahmood said.Both men have been remanded in custody and are due at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.