Ten people have been arrested across London in relation to a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into Iranian spying in the city, four of them on direct intelligence suspicions, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Counter Terrorism Policing detectives arrested four people on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service and a further six people on suspicion of “assisting an offender”, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday. The men are said to be suspected of spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Iranian intelligence.
Searches are ongoing at addresses in Barnet, Watford, Wembley, and Harrow, police said.
It was stated a 40-year-old male and a 55-year-old male were arrested at two addresses in Barnet, a 52-year-old man was arrested in Watford, and a 22-year-old man was arrested in Harrow. They are being held “on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act, 2023”.
A further six men including two 20-year-olds, and men aged 29, 39, 42, and 49 were also arrested at the same address in Harrow. They are being held on suspicion of assisting an offender, and one of that group was additionally arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.
A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesman said of the raids: “Today’s arrests are part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it.
“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.”
The Times states the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also commented on the arrests, saying: “The Jewish community and the wider public will understandably be concerned by today’s arrests. We continue to monitor the situation closely and engage with those affected”. Mahmood assured the UK’s intelligence services are “world leading” and will “continue to use the full range of tools and powers available to them to keep this country safe”.
As stated by Britain’s internal intelligence agency, MI5, the United Kingdom is a major target for Iranian terrorism. The agency’s director said in an update on their work last year that: “2025 has required MI5 to grow our counter-Iran effort once again. MI5 has tracked more than twenty potentially lethal Iran-backed plots in just the one year since I last stood at this podium.”
Across Europe, those intelligence agencies are on high-alert for Iranian revenge attacks, particularly given years of talk about the possibility of “sleeper cells” having used low-scrutiny mass migration to embed themselves. As reported this week, Germany made these concerns explicit, speaking of the risk of “sleeper cells in Europe” launching “retaliatory measures”.
The German Interior Ministry said: “The Iranian regime has repeatedly demonstrated in the past that it carries out its terror beyond its own borders. The federal and state security authorities… are highly vigilant and will adjust appropriate protective measures as needed”. In France, the Interior Ministry called for heightened vigilance for Jewish places of worship.
It is certainly already known that terrorist cells have established weapons dumps in European nations to facilitate future attacks. As reported in November, Austrian police captured a cache of guns and ammunition said to have been established by Iran-backed Hamas. Police said “Israeli or Jewish institutions in Europe were likely to be the targets of these attacks”.
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