Two Iranian nationals who arrived on small boats have been charged with planning a terrorist attack after an alleged plot to target the Jewish community ahead of Yom Kippur earlier this month.
Salam Ahmadyan, 36, and Rahman Salehi, 34, were arrested in Manchester’s Northern Quarter on September 20 and charged earlier today.
The two men were allegedly in contact with an overseas third party – which may have been Iran – about the plot, counter-terror police said.
It is understood they arrived on small boats in 2020 and 2023 and that one was granted asylum while the other has a live claim.
The charges came under week after an alleged plot at RAF Fairford which saw five men arrested on Sunday.
Earlier this week Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were ‘strong indications’ Iran was involved in the events, claims Tehran denied.
Yesterday a dual British-Iranian national was arrested over the alleged plot at the US-operated base in Gloucestershire.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said news of the pair’s charges would be ‘deeply distressing’ to the Jewish community, adding: ‘I know this will be especially true in Manchester, as we mark one year since the terrorist attack at Heaton Park synagogue.’
Last year’s attack in the north of the city, during which two people were killed, was carried out by an Islamic State supporter who drove a car into the synagogue’s gates before fatally stabbing a worshipper.
Police guarded an address in Manchester after the two men were arrested on September 20 on suspicion of a terror plot targeting the city’s Jewish community as Yom Kippur began
Ms Mahmood added of this month’s alleged plot: ‘The fact both suspects arrived by small boat several years ago is a reminder of the importance of our relentless work to tackle illegal migration into this country. While numbers are down, I know there is more we must do.
‘It would be inappropriate to comment further on this case. But I can say that we will be unrelenting in our efforts to protect our Jewish communities, root out antisemitism in this country, and maintain our border security.
‘It is no secret that this country faces a range of serious threats from the Iranian regime.
‘They target our Jewish communities and try to silence their critics overseas, often through proxies and criminal networks to hide their involvement.’
Officers added the two men charged today had allegedly acquired a document titled ‘steps for making [a] powder chlorine and car brake oil/fluid bomb’ and video instructions for making or assembling an improvised explosive device.
According to the charges, the men allegedly researched potential targets for the attack online and conducted ‘reconnaissance’ of those locations.
The suspected plot came almost a year after the deadly terror attack at Heaton Park synagogue, where two men were killed, and on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Police searched addresses in Epworth Street, Liverpool, and Lancaster Road, Salford, as part of the investigation.
Deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans, senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), said the charges were ‘extremely serious’ and officers had disrupted ‘what we believe to have been a plot targeting the Jewish community in Manchester’.
Ms Evans said officers did not believe there was any ongoing threat to the public but acknowledged the ‘great deal of concern to the Jewish community, as well as with the wider public’.
She added the suspected Yom Kippur plot was ‘not connected in any way’ to events at RAF Fairford.
‘I want to reassure the public that CTP, working with our national security partners, are using the full range of our capabilities to protect the UK from any hostile acts,’ Ms Evans said.
‘CTP is also working closely with police forces across the country to provide specialist protective security advice and support for areas with Jewish communities to help keep them safe.
‘Finally, I would like to thank the public – particularly those in affected areas in Manchester and Liverpool – for their support while this investigation has been ongoing.
‘As ever, I urge the public to remain vigilant and if they have any concerns then do not hesitate to act, and contact police.’
The alleged plot in Manchester would be the third time the area had been targeted by terrorists in two years.
Greater Manchester Police’s deputy chief constable Terry Woods said: ‘We know how concerning this news will be to Jewish communities in Greater Manchester, and beyond.
‘We know this is particularly acute on the calendar anniversary of last year’s terrorist atrocity at the Heaton Park synagogue and during the Jewish High Holy Days.
‘We continue to work hand in glove locally with community leaders, the Community Security Trust and our local policing teams and nationally with Counter Terrorism Police London which have been leading this investigation.
‘Our ongoing and robust policing plans within the Jewish communities will endure, and the public can expect to see continued visibility with officers providing engagement and security.’
The pair’s arrests came on the eve of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and at a time of heightened safety fears following last year’s deadly attack at Heaton Park synagogue
Marc Levy, chief executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, said when the men were arrested it was an ‘incredibly concerning time’ for British Jews, a year after Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby died in the Heaton Park attack.
‘We once again repeat that security can only ever deal with the symptoms,’ Mr Levy said.
‘One year on from the murder of Melvin and Adrian, the Government must redouble its efforts to tackle the root causes of the hatred and extremism that are espoused in places of worship and other community spaces that continue to motivate people to target Jews.
‘We cannot simply keep protecting our community from the next attack but must do much more to stop people being motivated to carry one out in the first place.’
The pair’s arrests came almost 12 months after knife-wielding Islamic State supporter Jihad Al-Shamie tried to force his way into the Heaton Park Synagogue on October 2 last year during Yom Kippur.
Al-Shamie – who was wearing a fake suicide belt and rang 999 during his attack saying ‘I have killed two Jews in the name of Islamic State’ – had already stabbed Mr Cravitz, 66.
As a police marksman fired his Glock pistol at the terrorist, an inquest earlier this month heard how one round fatally struck Mr Daulby, 53, who was bravely helping to barricade the doors.
That round also hit 39-year-old Yoni Finlay, who survived.
The year before a terrorist attack on the same Jewish community planned by Walid Saadaoui, 38, the former owner of an Italian restaurant in Great Yarmouth, and Amar Hussein, 52, a former Iraqi soldier who worked in an appliance store in Bolton, was foiled after they unwittingly bought assault rifles, handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from an undercover officer.
Saadaoui was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum of 37 years and Hussein to life with a minimum of 26 years in February.
This is a breaking news story.
