British terrorism controllers have arrested eight men, including seven Iranian subjects, in connection with two separate investigations the metropolitan police of London said Sunday.
In one of the cases, four Iranians and another man whose nationality still has to be established were held on Saturday on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act against a single site.
“The investigation relates to a presumably conspiracy to focus on a specific building,” the police said in a statement that was published at the beginning of Sunday. The police added that the site was not called ‘for operational reasons’.
Dominic Murphy, the head of the Counter Terrorism command of the Metropolitan Police, said that the investigation was “fast moving” and that the police “worked closely with those on the affected site to keep them informed”.
He added: “The research is still at an early stage and we are investigating various lines of research to determine a possible motivation and to determine whether there can be a further risk to the public linked to this issue.”
The police said that two of the Iranian subjects were 29 years old, one was 46 and the other 40. They were arrested in London and Swindon, about 80 miles west of the capital, and in stockport and Rochdale in the northwest. The other man was arrested in the Manchester area.
In a later statement, the police said that three Iranians, 39, 44 and 55 years old, were held on Saturday at individual locations in London, but that those arrests were not connected to the other investigation.
“All three men have been taken into custody and searches take place at the three addresses,” the police said. They added that the men were held under the National Security Act 2023, which was introduced to sharpen the protection against hostile actions against Great Britain.
Yvette Cooper, the Minister of the Interior, described the arrests as “serious events that demonstrate the constant requirement to adjust our response to the threats of national security.”
She added: “The government continues to collaborate with police and intelligence services to support all action and security assessments that are needed to keep the country safe.”
Further details of the Suddenly type that was investigated were not given.
In one speech Last year, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, identified the domestic security service of Great Britain, Iran was a country of growing care for the police of terrorism. He said that, since January 2022, the security services had responded to 20 plots supported by Iran that may have been fatal threats for British citizens and residents.
Mr. McCallum mentioned the prison of a man last December for exploring what was then the headquarters of Iran InternationalA Persian TV channel of opposition that works from Great Britain.
Speaking with the BBC on Sunday, Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said that the government “will keep the audience clear if we can”, but added: “Given this its live investigations, it would not be appropriate to further comment.”
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