Two arrested in London over suspected Iran intelligence assistance
A 42-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man have been arrested at addresses in London on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service, the Metropolitan Police has said. The arrests, made on Wednesday afternoon, form part of a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation into suspected offences under the National Security Act 2023, reflecting what police describe as a marked increase in state-threat related activity over the past year.
The woman was arrested in north London and the man in north-west London, following earlier searches carried out on 24 June at residential addresses in the same areas; a third property in north-west London was searched the day before the arrests. Both suspects were held on suspicion of an offence under section 3 of the Act, which covers assisting a foreign intelligence service, and have since been released on bail with strict conditions until a date in late October. Commander Helen Flanagan of Counter Terrorism Policing London said there was no imminent threat to the public and stressed the case is unconnected to recent incidents targeting Jewish and Iranian community venues or the upcoming High Holy Days, while reminding the public that the UK terrorism threat level remains at "severe".
- Two Londoners arrested on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service
- Held under National Security Act 2023; both released on bail until October
- Police say no link to recent Jewish/Iranian community attacks or imminent threat
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Iran and the UK have had a strained relationship for years, with British security officials repeatedly warning that Tehran's intelligence services try to recruit people in the UK to spy on or target dissidents, journalists and others it sees as opponents. The National Security Act 2023 is the law Parliament passed to give police and prosecutors stronger powers to deal with this kind of foreign state interference, and arrests under it are still relatively rare, which is why any new case draws attention.
Counter Terrorism Policing is the UK unit that leads on investigations into national security threats, including espionage, even when there is no direct threat of violence. It has said state-linked threats, particularly from Iran, have risen sharply over the past year, following a series of previous cases involving alleged plots or surveillance linked to Iranian networks.
This case matters because it touches on wider concerns about foreign states operating covertly on British soil, and about the safety of Iranian and Jewish communities in the UK, even though police have been at pains to separate this particular investigation from other recent incidents affecting those communities.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Man, 60, and woman, 42, arrested in north London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service”.