UK: 15 Plots To Kill, Kidnap Came Out Of Iran Over Past Three Years

Since January 2020, Iran has made at least 15 attempts to kidnap or kill British nationals or individuals based in the United Kingdom considered by the Islamic Republic as a threat, the head of Britain's counter-terrorism police says.

Speaking at a briefing on February 16, Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes said his officers were facing “unprecedented” threats from hostile states such as Iran, Russia, and China.

Probes involving state threats have quadrupled in the past couple of years and now account for a fifth of counter-terrorism officers' time, Jukes said.

Despite a shift in focus away from Islamist extremism, UK counter-terrorism police's biggest job remains tackling terrorism.

“Last year we stopped eight late-stage terror plots,” Jukes said, adding that in some cases police have been investigating children as young as 13.

The Iranian Embassy in London has not responded to Jukes’s remarks. 

Last year, the British Foreign Secretary summoned Iran's most senior diplomat in London over alleged threats by Iranian security forces to journalists in Britain.