Four men arrested on suspicion of helping Iran spy on Jews in north London
Arrests in Barnet, Harrow and Watford
Four men have been arrested on suspicion of aiding Iran’s intelligence service by spying on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community in London.
Detectives from counterterrorism policing London said the men — one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian citizens— were detained shortly after 1am on Friday at addresses in Barnet and Watford, as part of a pre-planned operation.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of counterterrorism policing London, said: “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 Metropolitan Police said a 40-year-old man and a 55-year-old man were arrested at addresses in Barnet, and said that searches continued.
A 52-year-old man was arrested at an address in Watford. Police are searching the property and another linked address in Wembley.
A 22-year-old man was arrested at an address in Harrow.
Six other men, aged 29, 39, 42, 49 and two aged 20, were arrested at the same location in Harrow on suspicion of assisting an offender.
All ten men remain in custody.
The Board of Deputies and the Community Security Trust both issued statements praising the work of the security services.
David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, praised the work of MI5 and counterterrorism police but declined to give further details about the arrests.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism globally and sadly that is in effect in our own society as well.
“Our intelligence services and counterterrorism police have thwarted lots of action over the last few years.
“This is now a live investigation, so I won’t comment on that any further, except to thank our security staff and police for continuing to keep our people safe and doing everything they can where people would cause us harm and individuals in our country harm.”
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