SAS joins Greater Manchester raids to foil 'Iran-backed terror plot'
Special Air Service troops joined police in raids at three sites across Greater Manchester as part of a serious investigation into a suspected Iran-backed terror plot.
The armed soldiers joined counter terror police in swoops in Rochdale, Stockport and in Manchester, while linked raids also took place in Swindon and London on Saturday, May 3. Searches continued across Greater Manchester tonight, May 5, as cops were give permission to hold four of five suspects for a further five days.
The Manchester Evening News reports the unnamed 'specific premises' that was allegedly being targeted is highly likely to be a venue outside of the Greater Manchester area. Sources said the heavily armed 'special forces', thought to be the SAS, joined counter terror police at the three raids in Greater Manchester on Saturday evening.
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One of the raids took place at a house in Rochdale where neighbours reported hearing a 'bang' before a shirtless man was led out by officers. The Metropolitan Police confirmed a 40-year-old man was arrested in Rochdale, and police remain at the scene in East Street.
At about the same time a 29-year-old man was arrested in Stockport. Searches were also carried out in London and Swindon in connection to the alleged plot, with a 29-year-old man arrested in the Swindon area, and a 46-year-old man arrested in west London.
All four suspects were held on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act and remain in police custody for questioning, with the magistrates today granting detectives warrants of further detention allowing all four to be held until May 10.
A man, aged 24, who was held under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act in the 'Manchester area' was released on bail, said the Met Police. The Met said all five suspects are Iranian nationals.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has described the arrests as part of 'some of the biggest counter state threat and counter terrorism operations that we have seen in recent years'. The head of MI5, Ken McCallum, said in October that that 'state threat' investigations had 'shot up' by 48%.
He also said the security services had stopped 20 state-backed plots hatched by Iran in the UK since June 2022. He warned of an 'unprecedented pace and scale' of plots posing 'potentially lethal threats' from Iran, who he said had adopted an 'extensive use of criminal proxies' from drug traffickers to low-level criminals.
Iran was the first foreign power to be listed on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs), aimed at protecting the UK from malign foreign influence. It means anyone who is directed by Iran to carry out activities in the UK must declare it or face five years in prison. The scheme is due to come into force in July.
One security services source told the MEN that the SAS were probably brought for the op as they were 'light years' ahead of regular armed police in terms of their training and kit. They had high-tech 'counter measures' in the event of an improvised explosive device being detonated, they said.
The raid in Rochdale was 'higher risk' as it took place during daylight hours when typically such operations take place under cover of darkness, they added, going on that the time of the op suggested a 'collapsing time frame forced their hand'.
The Met Police said the arrests were part of a 'pre-planned operation' and that counter terrorism officers 'remain in close contact with the affected premises'.
Several sources also told the MEN that the 'specific premises' is unlikely to be in Greater Manchester. Other sources confirmed that the venue in question is not Old Trafford football ground, the Trafford Centre nor Co-op Live.
Operational activity is currently being supported by Greater Manchester Police and Wiltshire Police, as well as colleagues from Counter Terrorism Policing across the country, the Met Police said.
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