Two Iranians charged over Yom Kippur terror plot against Manchester's Jewish community

Rahman Salehi and Salam Ahmadyan face charges of preparing a terrorist attack on Manchester's Jewish community ahead of Yom Kippur. Police say they had IED components and conducted target reconnaissance.

Iranian nationals charged over alleged Manchester terror plot on eve of Yom Kippur

British police charged two Iranian nationals on Friday over an alleged plot to carry out a terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Manchester, timed to coincide with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, nbcnews.com reports.

Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, were charged with "engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts" on or before 20 September, according to a Metropolitan Police statement.

The two men allegedly possessed components for manufacturing an improvised explosive device and had conducted reconnaissance of potential targets. Investigators say they were also in contact with a third party overseas, possibly based in Iran, in connection with the plot.

The charges come days after a separate and unrelated security operation in which five British nationals from London, all in their early to mid-20s, were arrested on suspicion of terrorism and explosives offences. That incident followed the spotting of three suspicious vehicles moving toward RAF Fairford, a Royal Air Force station roughly 90 minutes west of London used by the U.S. Air Force to facilitate strikes on Iran. The five men were subsequently released on bail, though a dual UK-Iranian national was arrested Thursday in relation to the same incident.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said Wednesday there are strong indications that Tehran played a part in the security incident outside the airbase. Iran has denied any involvement.

Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, confirmed the Manchester plot and the RAF Fairford incident are not connected. "This week also brought into sharp focus some of the wider threats being projected into the UK from Iran," Evans said in the statement. "While this incident and the investigation into the RAF Fairford incident are not connected in any way, 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."

Source: Google News MT