{"id":18960,"date":"2026-03-14T09:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/18960\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T09:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T09:16:08","slug":"london-at-risk-of-tehran-plot-attack-as-met-steps-up-security-for-al-quds-day-protests-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/18960\/","title":{"rendered":"London \u201cat risk\u201d of Tehran plot attack as Met steps up security for Al Quds Day protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 1,000 police officers are being deployed across London<\/a> amid fears violence could erupt during Al Quds Day demonstrations this weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

British intelligence agencies and counter-terrorism teams are also working around the clock amid warnings the capital could be \u201cat risk\u201d from a Tehran<\/a>-linked plot.<\/p>\n

The Metropolitan Police is ramping up security for Sunday<\/a>, drafting in more than 1,000 officers \u2014 including reinforcements from other forces \u2014 to prevent disorder linked to the planned protests.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham (PA) (PA Archive)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the UK\u2019s signals intelligence agency GCHQ will be monitoring global communications for any signs of threats to London or other British interests.<\/p>\n

MI5 and counter-terror police have already disrupted more than 20 Iranian<\/a> state-backed terror plots in the past year, including alleged assassination attempts targeting individuals in London.<\/a><\/p>\n

Overseas intelligence agency MI6 is also understood to be using both human sources and digital intelligence to detect any threats to the UK, British interests abroad or the capital itself.<\/p>\n

Terrorism expert Professor Anthony Glees told the London Standard: \u201cWe are absolutely at risk here in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former director of the Centre for Security<\/a> and Intelligence Studies at Buckingham University added: \u201cThe Iranian regime is a regime that use terror as a weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould London be a target for that kind of terror, absolutely – there is no doubt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned any potential attack could be organised directly from Tehran or carried out by individuals radicalised by the escalating conflict involving the United States.<\/p>\n

Such violence, he said, could come from a small group or even a lone actor inspired by Donald Trump\u2019s war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Olivia Pinkney, a member of the London Policing Board, suggested fears of a Tehran-linked attack may have been one factor behind the decision to ban<\/a> the Al Quds Day march planned for Sunday.<\/p>\n

Authorities in the US have also raised concerns that Iran could attempt to activate so-called \u201csleeper cells\u201d <\/a>overseas in retaliation for military action.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An Al Quds march in London in 2025 (via REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Al Quds Day demonstrations are held annually in cities around the world on the last Friday of Ramadan in support of Palestinians and opposition to Israel.<\/p>\n

The event was originally established by Iran\u2019s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 and has long been associated with pro-Palestinian activism.<\/p>\n

London has previously hosted large marches marking the day, with thousands taking part in past years.<\/p>\n

But the demonstrations have also been controversial, with concerns raised over displays of support for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group which is banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK.<\/p>\n

The heightened security measures come amid rising tensions in the Middle East following US military strikes on Iranian targets and Tehran\u2019s retaliatory missile attacks.<\/p>\n

Police chiefs say they are prepared for any eventuality as officers move to keep order on the streets and protect the capital from potential threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 1,000 police officers are being deployed across London amid fears violence could erupt during Al Quds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9112,9593,9595,9594,34,1178,9592,5325,9596,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-18960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-al-quds","9":"tag-british-intelligence-agencies","10":"tag-british-interests","11":"tag-demonstrations","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-london","14":"tag-london-standard","15":"tag-metropolitan-police","16":"tag-police-officers","17":"tag-tehran"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116226777621562505","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}