British police announced on Friday that two Iranian men have been charged with conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Manchester.
The arrests took place nearly a year after a tragic knife and gun assault at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in northern Manchester, where congregants were observing Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar. This attack, which occurred on October 2, 2025, resulted in the deaths of two individuals.
The Metropolitan Police of the U.K. reported that Salam Ahmadyan, 36, from Liverpool, and 34-year-old Rahman Salehi from Salford, both Iranian nationals, were apprehended in Manchester on September 20.
The police indicated that the suspects were allegedly in communication with a foreign entity, potentially located in Iran, regarding their conspiracy.
While specifics of the purported plot have not been disclosed, officials confirmed that it has been successfully “disrupted.”
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans stated, “We do not believe there to be any ongoing threat to the public in relation to this matter.”
British Home Minister Shabana Mahmood expressed concern, saying, “This news will be deeply distressing for our Jewish communities, particularly in Manchester, as we mark the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue, coming shortly after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.”
Mahmood also noted that both suspects had “arrived by small boat several years ago,” emphasizing the importance of the ongoing efforts to combat illegal immigration into the U.K.
Over the past year, there has been an increase in attacks targeting Jewish or Israel-related sites in the British capital.
The two men are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
This news follows the arrest of five British men, all in their mid-20s, on September 27 in a village near the RAF Fairford base, on suspicions of preparing a terrorist act. This base has been utilized by American bombers to conduct operations against Iran during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The men were subsequently released on bail.
Additionally, on Thursday, British authorities detained a dual U.K.-Iranian national on suspicion of planning a terror attack at the RAF Fairford air base. It remains uncertain whether this individual is connected to the earlier arrests.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated that the British government believes Iran “played a part” in the events of September 27, a claim that the Iranian government has refuted.
