Three Iranian nationals have been arrested in the region, with five others arrested in England over recent days
07:27, 07 May 2025Updated 08:28, 07 May 2025
Police on East Street, Rochdale, amid a counter-terrorism operation(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Iran’s foreign minister has issued a statement after three men from the country were arrested in Greater Manchester amid a counter-terror investigation.
Specialist officers arrested suspects on East Street in Rochdale, Heathbank Road in Stockport, and an undisclosed location in Manchester on Saturday (May 3).
Two other men were arrested in Swindon and London as part of the same investigation, with Metropolitan Police confirming that all five suspects are Iranian nationals.
And in a separate counter-terror investigation, three more Iranian men have been arrested in London in recent days.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis told MPs of the ‘unacceptable threat that we face from the Iranian state’.
But in a post on X on Tuesday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said he was ‘disturbed’ by news of the arrests, as he urged the British state to ‘afford [the suspects] due process’.
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He said: “Disturbed to learn that Iranian citizens have reportedly been arrested by UK security services.
“If credible allegations of misconduct are established, Iran stands ready to assist investigations.
“We call on UK to ensure respect for our citizens’ rights and afford them due process.”
Searches continued in Greater Manchester on Tuesday as part of a major counter-terrorism investigation, backed by the SAS.
Police on East Street, Rochdale, on Tuesday(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The raids are set to have thwarted an Iran-backed terror plot to target a ‘specific premises’, which is understood to be unlikely to be in Greater Manchester.
Mr Jarvis declined to reveal the alleged target in Parliament on Tuesday, but said the raids came ‘against a backdrop of complex, interconnected threats to the UK, where state threats and counter-terrorism, as well as serious and organised crime, are intertwined together’.
Four of the suspects arrested on Saturday remained in custody on Tuesday evening, with a fifth – who the Met says was arrested in Manchester – released on bail with ‘strict’ conditions, according to police.