UK arrests four Iranian nationals on suspicion of spying on London Jews for Tehran

Six others detained in West London on suspicion of assisting one of the suspects, Metropolitan Police says, calling arrests ‘part of a long-running investigation’

Four men were arrested in Britain on Friday on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence by spying on locations and people linked to London’s Jewish community, police said.

The men, one Iranian national and three dual British-Iranians, were arrested by counterterrorism police at three separate addresses in the north London borough of Barnet and in the town of Watford, north of the capital, according to the Metropolitan Police.

The suspects, aged 22, 40, 52 and 55, were arrested shortly after 1 a.m. and searches are ongoing at the addresses as well as other properties nearby, police said.

Six other men were also arrested in Harrow, west London, on suspicion of assisting an offender and have been taken into custody, the force said.

The force’s head of counterterrorism policing, Helen Flanagan, said the arrests were “part of a long-running investigation.”

“We understand the public may be concerned, in particular the Jewish community, and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them, then to contact us,” she added.

The arrests come as the US and Israel continued striking Iran after mounting a surprise attack there on Saturday, seeking to destroy Iran’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities and to topple its regime.

Iran has retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel, US bases and across the region. Britain is not involved in offensive operations but is assisting in regional defense.

UK police, the domestic intelligence service MI5 and members of parliament have long warned about a growing threat to Britain from Iran.

In October, MI5 chief Ken McCallum said that British security agencies had tracked “more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots” in the previous year. People targeted by Iran in the UK have included Jewish- and Israeli-linked targets as well as Iranian dissidents and journalists.

A Reuters examination of Israeli and Western government documents from 2020 to 2024 found at least 33 alleged Iran-backed assassination or abduction attempts in Europe and the US. Australia last year also linked antisemitic attacks to Tehran and expelled the Iranian ambassador.

Last year, German prosecutors said a Danish national had been arrested in Denmark for gathering information on “Jewish localities and specific Jewish individuals” for Iranian intelligence, with a possible view to carrying out attacks.

British Jewry has also long been the target of Islamist attacks, including on Yom Kippur last year, when two people were killed after an ISIS-inspired terrorist rammed into a synagogue in Manchester.