Two Iranians charged over alleged plot targeting Jewish community in UK

Two Iranian men are accused of preparing to ​commit an act of terrorism in Manchester on or before Yom Kippur.

British authorities have charged two Iranian nationals with planning a terrorist attack against the Jewish community in northern England.

The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Friday that Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, were charged with preparing to commit or assisting another to commit an act of terrorism in Manchester “on or before” Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which began at sundown on September 20.

“It is alleged that the two men were in contact with an overseas third-party who may be in Iran in relation to the plot,” police said in a separate statement on Friday.

Details of the alleged plot have not been released, but police have confirmed its “disruption”.

Counterterrorism police said Salehi and Ahmadyan, both arrested in Manchester on September 20, allegedly tried to acquire components and equipment to make an improvised explosive device and conducted reconnaissance on potential targets for attack.

The pair will appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, the CPS said.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Salehi and Ahmadyan arrived in the UK on a small boat from Europe several years ago. One of the men had been granted asylum and the other had a live asylum claim, the Home Office said.

“It is no secret that this country faces a range of serious threats from the Iranian regime,” she said in a statement.

“They target our Jewish communities and try to silence their critics overseas, often through proxies and criminal networks to hide their involvement,” she added.

Iran has denied similar accusations.

The charges come a year after two people were killed in a knife and gun attack by a British citizen of Syrian descent at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in northern Manchester on October 2, 2025.

Heightened tensions

“I’m aware that the news of this alleged plot coming during the High Holy day period has caused a great deal of concern to the Jewish community, as well as with the wider public,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, said on Friday.

“It also coincides with the anniversary of the devastating terrorist attack last year at Heaton Park synagogue and comes in a wider context of increasing antisemitic incidents across the UK.”

Detectives said there was no connection between Friday’s charges and the suspected plot involving the RAF Fairford air base, over which a dual UK-Iranian national was arrested on Thursday, according to the Reuters news agency.

Britain said Tehran had been involved in an alleged plot earlier this week targeting an air base used by the US to launch attacks against Iran.

Iran denied any involvement in the RAF Fairford plot and said speculation would “fuel Iranophobia propaganda”.