Four arrested in UK on suspicion of spying for Iran

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Four men were arrested in Britain on Friday on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service by spying on locations and people linked to London’s Jewish community, police said.

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The men, one Iranian national and three dual British-Iranians, were arrested by counterterrorism police at three separate addresses in the UK capital, the Metropolitan police said in a statement.

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The force’s head of counterterrorism policing, Helen Flanagan, said the arrests were “part of a long-running investigation”.

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“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,” she added.

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Six other men were arrested at one of the locations on suspicion of assisting an offender and have been taken into custody, the Met said.

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UK police, the domestic intelligence service MI5 and members of parliament have long warned about a growing threat to Britain from Iran, which is currently locked in a war with the United States and Israel.

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In October, MI5 chief Ken McCallum said that British security agencies had tracked “more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots” in the previous year.

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People targeted by Iran in the UK have included Iranian dissidents and journalists.

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AFP

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