Three men charged with Iranian security plot in the UK
British police said on Saturday that three Iranian nationals have been charged under the National Security Act with a plot to attack an individual on behalf of Iran.
A statement said the London-based men were engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service.
The investigation, led by counter-terrorism officers of the Metropolitan Police, has been continuing since May 3.
The men were named as Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, of St John's Wood, London, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, of Kensal Rise, London, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, of Ealing.
Mr Sepahvand was also charged with engaging in conduct, namely surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research as part of efforts to conduct an act of violence against a person.
A fourth man arrested a week ago in connection with the same allegations was released on Thursday.
The statement said the foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran.
'These are extremely serious charges under the National Security Act, which have come about following what has been a very complex and fast-moving investigation,' said Commander Dominic Murphy from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.
Iran has denied links to two separate sets of arrests in the UK, including a reported plot to attack the Israeli embassy. Iran's Foreign Minister 'categorically' rejected the reports of a plot to attack the Israeli embassy in London.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
8 hours ago
- The National
How Iran's 'hybrid attack' network could retaliate against Israel in Europe
Iran can call on networks of criminals and even its own agents smuggled into Europe as migrants to carry out retaliatory attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets, following Friday's strikes by Israel. Tehran has previously relied on regional allies Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas to attack Israel. However, with what Tehran called its 'ring of fire' degraded, it has other avenues further afield, particularly in Europe, to hit back against Israel. These include criminals networks, most notably two based in Sweden run by Kurdish gangsters Rawa Majid and Ismail Abdo, that have been accused of carrying out attacks on Israeli targets. Majid, who is nicknamed the Kurdish Fox, and his Foxtrot network were placed under sanctions by the US and the UK this year for orchestrating an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm. Three Iranian nationals were recently charged in the UK with a plot to attack an individual on behalf of Iran. An official report released in Germany on Tuesday warned that the potential threat from Iran is growing. The findings, which summarised trends in 2024, said Iranian intelligence services can be assumed to be ready to 'pursue the interests of the country's leadership by all means – including acts of violence and even assassinations'. 'The tense security situation in the Middle East and internal tensions within the Islamic Republic of Iran shape its intelligence activities,' the Ministry of Interior document said. 'Activities directed against Germany continue to emanate primarily from the Ministry of Intelligence or MOIS. In addition to the MOIS, the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which also operates as an intelligence agency, is also active in Germany. 'Intelligence services of the Islamic Republic of Iran also use state terrorist means to achieve their goals,' it added. 'This primarily involves the intimidation and neutralisation of opposition members, but also the punishment of 'traitors' or 'defectors'. 'Iran's activities go well beyond spying on the opposition Iranian diaspora and that pro-Jewish and pro-Israeli interests and institutions in Germany are the focus of Iranian activities.' Jason Brodsky, policy director of advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran, told The National that European nations need to be 'extra vigilant and step up alerts' given that Iran 'has long planned contingency plans for terror operations in the West'. 'That's a risk that everyone should be alert for, especially Israel and the Jewish community, and Iran still retains that capability through the IRGC or its intelligence ministry,' Mr Brodsky said. 'They will also hire criminal networks to foment terror and undertake operations. And there are also Iranian dissidents that the regime targets. These are potential risks to look at and policymakers need to make it clear to Iran that any operations will be viewed as akin to an act of war.' Speaking before Israel's attack, the UK's Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, announced the creation of a 'counter-hybrid taskforce' aimed at combating the activities of states such as Iran. Tehran has been developing hybrid warfare tactics including using cyberattacks, proxies and propaganda. Mr Lammy said Britain's diplomats 'will be ready for this murky new age of sabotage and subterfuge'. Iranian actors and criminals working for them have been known to carry court surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention of carrying out serious violence. Announcing sanctions against Majid and his Foxtrot network, the US Treasury said Iran was 'increasingly' using criminal networks as proxies so it could maintain plausible deniability for operations against its enemies. 'Iran's brazen use of transnational criminal organisations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime's attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe,' said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Iran has sought to assassinate dissidents through other criminal networks, including that of Iranian drug trafficker Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti, who had sanctions imposed on him by the US last January. Known as 'the Big Guy', he allegedly organised the attempted murder for hire of two residents of the state of Maryland. Tehran has also used foreign individuals, known in the spying trade as 'disposable assets', to harass opponents of the regime, including employees of Iran International, a London -based dissident television channel. In December 2023, Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, a Chechnya-born Austrian citizen was found guilty of spying on the broadcaster. Iran International was forced to move to new high-security studios after being shut down following alleged threats from the Iranian state. Two Romanian citizens were charged in December 2024 over the stabbing of Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati. Iran International spokesman Adam Baillie said: 'We are watching developments closely and we remain as ever on high alert for the security implications.'
The National
8 hours ago
- The National
Europe must choose: reform and resilience − or drift into irrelevance
Donald Trump has been called many things but his newest label – the great unifier of Europe – might just stick. That provocative notion may raise eyebrows in Brussels, Paris, or Berlin, but Mr Trump's return could be the shock that finally compels Europe to do what it has long known it must: to become more self-reliant. The world has changed. Russia's war in Ukraine shattered the illusion of permanent peace in the region. China 's economic ascendancy is reshaping global competition. And now, with Mr Trump launching a trade offensive against allies and adversaries alike, one truth is impossible to ignore: no one is coming to Europe's rescue. For too long, Europe has assumed that peace, prosperity and US protection were permanent. That illusion is gone. Mr Trump's transactional approach to alliances – where strength is rewarded and weakness punished – has exposed a hard truth: Europe can no longer outsource its defence. His worldview owes more to 19th-century protectionism than 20th-century idealism. But the implications extend beyond defence. Mr Trump's America is not merely retreating from global leadership – it is actively dismantling the postwar order that enabled Europe's rise. Nato, the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund – these institutions anchored European prosperity and security. That architecture may not include Europe by default next time. Unless Europe steps up, it risks being left behind. Europe faces a choice: reform and lead or stagnate and drift. The first path begins with taking responsibility for its own defence. That demands more than budget increases, with Germany poised to channel as much as €1 trillion ($1.15 trillion) into defence and infrastructure under Chancellor Friedrich Merz. It means aligning strategic priorities, co-ordinating procurement, and deepening military integration – ideally through a 'coalition of the willing', rather than waiting for unanimity. This group could include the UK, Norway, Canada and, potentially, Switzerland. Europe must also fix its chronic economic underperformance. Between 2014 and 2023, nominal US GDP grew 57 per cent; the euro area just 15 per cent. That gap reflects more than demographics – it points to structural inefficiencies. Fragmented capital markets and limited access to risk capital force many European entrepreneurs to look abroad. A genuine capital markets union would change that, unlocking investment in green tech, artificial intelligence, life sciences and more. It's not just about growth. Innovation is the new battleground. Energy is the third pillar. The war in Ukraine didn't cause Europe's energy crisis, but it exposed the risks of dependence. Swapping Russian gas for American liquefied natural gas won't delivery energy security. Resilience will come from accelerating renewables, upgrading grids, building storage and revisiting nuclear energy – not just for climate goals, but for sovereignty. In this optimistic future, Europe is more integrated, more dynamic and more secure. It competes globally and stands on its own terms. The second path is easier – for now. No hard choices. No integration. Just drift. In that future, defence stays fragmented. Capital remains trapped. Europe continues to punch below its weight. And, as the world grows more volatile, Europe becomes less relevant. We've seen this before. In the mid-1980s, Europe was adrift – weak growth, institutional fatigue, geopolitical anxiety. Then-US president Ronald Reagan's arms race unnerved many after a decade of detente. Europe responded with the 1986 Single European Act, which laid the groundwork for the single market. It streamlined decision-making and revived the integration agenda. Europe rose to the moment then – and it must again. This time, the stakes are higher. The next round of reforms must secure not just prosperity, but sovereignty. Business has a role to play too. Just as industrial leaders helped drive integration in the 1990s, today's chief executives must help shape Europe's renewal − not just because it's good policy, but because a fragmented, inward-looking Europe is bad for business and worse for society. Leaders like Henrik Andersen, chief executive of Danish wind turbine maker Vestas, offer a useful example. He has urged Brussels to align energy, trade and industrial policy – not out of idealism, but because Europe's competitiveness in clean tech depends on it. So what must Europe do − urgently and decisively? First, it must provide for its own defence. With US electoral cycles growing ever more unpredictable, European security can no longer hinge on transatlantic assumptions. A credible defence posture is essential − not to replace Nato, but to rebalance it. Second, Europe must unlock capital and innovation. Fragmented financial markets continue to stifle scale and ambition. While North America accounts for 60 per cent of global scale-ups, the EU claims just 8 per cent. A capital markets union is now critical to mobilise European savings, fund its own innovation, and reduce reliance on US capital. Third, the green transition must accelerate − not simply as a climate imperative, but as a strategy for resilience and sovereignty. Renewables, and where appropriate nuclear, should anchor an energy strategy capable of withstanding geopolitical shocks. And finally, Europe must engage globally with coherence and purpose. It has a foreign minister, but still lacks a foreign policy. That must change. Building stable, values-driven partnerships with powers like India, Saudi Arabia and even China will be essential if Europe is to remain an active shaper − rather than a passive observer − of the global order. It's one of history's ironies: Mr Trump may be the catalyst for European renewal. By making US commitments less reliable, he's made European responsibility unavoidable. By rejecting global rules, he's made European leadership indispensable. This is not just another chapter in Europe's integration story. The world has changed − and with it, the stakes. The time for hesitation is over.
The National
18 hours ago
- The National
Why Germany is at war with itself on the eve of its first military veterans day
A tale of two corners. On one side that leads to Kiel town centre's main shopping precinct is a poster for Germany's first military veterans day taking place on Sunday. The slogan invites passers-by to Show Respect and reminds the former armed forces members that Once Connected, Always Together. On the other corner that leads to the bayside harbour wall is the anti-war slogan Kreig dem Kreig (war against war) scrawled in paint and red paint blotches cover the doorway. The target was the offices of the Foundation Science and Democracy, a 30-year-old think tank dedicated to Germany's constitution and the fight against populism and extremism. Local shopkeeper Luca Olivieri says the graffiti is the work of fringe local activists, but he also reflects that Germany's new announcements of more defence spending have left many with questions. 'Sometimes there are little groups of people here who are protesting against the foundation,' he says. Recent announcements about a pipeline of extra spending on defence have been unsettling to more than just the violent fringe groups. 'It feels like they are openly saying they want to be prepared for war and I think that is just the wrong way,' he said. 'It feels like this could be a way to trigger war. Its anyway very expensive and not good for this country.' Not far from the town centre, the researcher Ivan Kharitonov, who works for another Kiel-based policy institution, can claim to have a front-row seat to the military build-up, which has been on the cards since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The build-up is known as the Zeitenwende, or turning point, and new Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he plans to go further and faster. Mr Kharitonov works at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy collating information on the expansion of Europe's defences. The Institute gained an international following for its Ukraine support and assistance tracker, launched soon after the Russian invasion. Now it has started publishing the Kiel Military Procurement Tracker at a time when Europe's Nato members are promising to more than double annual military spending over the next decade. Germany's defence budget rose by 23 per cent in 2024 alone. Overlooking the Bay of Kiel, the offices of the institute have both a physical and a data-driven vantage point on the arms race. As the attack on the sister think tank in Kiel demonstrated, it is not just work of quiet academic interest. Kiel has a historic link to Germany's military, in particular the Navy, as it hosted the High Seas fleet. To this day there is a naval base, dockyards and armament factories in the area. Germany's government took office in early May promising to boost already rising defence spending. In the two years after the 2022 invasion orders for military equipment just about doubled to €90 billion over the previous two year period, according to a May report. Even so the gaps to be filled are yawning. For example, Germany ordered 18 main battle tanks until July 2024. It then placed an order of 105 tanks a year ago, but when these are delivered the country will still have 2,000 fewer tanks than it had in 2004. While it will take years for European countries to catch-up with Russia's capacity, there is a real change in the demand for military equipment. 'Real in the sense that it seems there is a willingness to do a defence build-up even if it not decided where the funds will come from or, in terms of production, if they even have the capacity,' Mr Kharitonov told The National. The pipeline of orders is certainly a boost for German defence companies. Industry giant Rheinmetall's shares, which traded at €604 at the start of 2025, are now up at €1,745. 'Defence stocks have risen well ahead of the timing of placing the orders or the recruitment of the personnel on the assumption overall revenue would be boosted at the same pace as those factors,' Mr Kharitonov said. On a visit to Kyiv on Thursday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius made additional pledges of extra money that would bring Germany's total support for Ukraine to about €9 billion this year. In a demonstration that the relationship is now extending to arms factories, the two countries are jointly planning to develop 'long-range weapons systems'. The Kiel Institute researchers suggest a two-fold impact on Germany's build up from Ukraine. First that most of its own replenishment is replacing materiel shipped to Ukraine and second most of the pledges have not yet been fulfilled, implying some of the new factory output will be directed to the front-line country in the future. 'Most of the supplies from Germany that have been going to Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, as result of the US and Europe sending weapons, have been from their stockpiles,' he said. 'There is a shift to towards factory procurement, so, when there is a pledge to Ukraine, we will have to supply ourselves and Ukraine and build even more.' One young German air force flight lieutenant encountered at a railway station both welcomed the extra spending and added a caveat: 'We need the tools to work with, every member of the military knows this, but at the same time we deeply hope we never have to use them.' Military veteran Dirk Meyer was at the same railway station and said a big change was coming for Germany's coming of age generation. 'Most people have spent the last 30 years wanting to live in peace. They don't want to kill someone, they want to party and have a good time,' he said. 'I think we need some military but I don't think we need the level of spending we are reading about. It is still better to talk to each other.' The economic impact on towns such as Kiel can be expected to be good even if not quite the boon that Russian conscription bonuses have provided to military families. 'There is a positive impact on GDP from opening a factory or expanding production lines. It creates jobs and demand for factory resources. For Russia the war economy has boosted the economy and with those mobilised it has created relatively high salaries, so there is an incentive to continue the conflict.' In the town centre there is a rebuilt church, St Nikolai, which established a relationship with the cathedral in Coventry, England, which was also bombed to rubble in the Second World War. It was one of the earliest gestures of peace between former enemies for the pacifist movement in Europe. An elderly patron of the Church, Franz Claussen, said the town was both a haven for the military and beneficiary of the peace tradition. 'To this day there are exports from here to Israel, Singapore, Egypt – there is enough work they say to keeping going until 2040,' he said. As a personal observation, Mr Kharitonov concurs the embrace of the town for the military build-up is nuanced. 'In Germany there is the historical context that means there are some doubts. Out on the street in Kiel people are surrounded by what has been done in the war – this is not a handsome, Hanseatic old city centre,' he said. 'People who work in defence sector will of course be satisfied there is more work but there is also more awareness here of what it means ultimately to have that build up locally, and be a target as a result.'
