by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
LONDON (Worthy News) – Two Iranian nationals accused of plotting a terrorist attack against Britain’s Jewish community have been remanded in custody after prosecutors said they surveyed Jewish sites and planned to use a homemade explosive device.
Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, were arrested September 20 as Yom Kippur, viewed by observant Jews as Judaism’s holiest day, began and later appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.
They are accused of preparing or helping to prepare a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community in Manchester, northern England.
Prosecutor Mark Luckett told the court that the men carried out “hostile reconnaissance” of possible targets, including the Manchester Jewish Museum and Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.
Prosecutors said the suspects studied the locations using online photographs, plans and maps and were in contact with another Iranian national believed to be in Iran.
JEWISH SITES TARGETED
That person allegedly gave them instructions on how to make an explosive device using readily available chemicals, the court heard. It was not immediately clear whether Tehran was behind the reported terror plot.
The Heaton Park synagogue had been separately targeted on October 2, 2025, when an Islamic State group-inspired attacker drove a vehicle at people and stabbed worshippers outside the building during Yom Kippur.
Two Jewish worshippers, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed before police shot dead the attacker. Authorities later said Daulby was accidentally struck by police gunfire while helping to barricade the synagogue.
Prosecutors said Salehi arrived in Britain by small boat across the English Channel in 2020 and was later granted asylum, while Ahmadyan arrived by the same route in 2023 and is awaiting a decision on his asylum application.
Neither man entered a plea, and both were ordered to remain in custody until their next court appearance at London’s Old Bailey on October 23.
SEPARATE AIRBASE PLOT
Britain’s senior counterterrorism coordinator, Vicki Evans, said authorities believe the alleged plot was isolated and that there was no continuing threat to the public.
She also stressed that the Manchester investigation was not connected to a separate suspected terrorist plot involving RAF Fairford, a British airbase used by U.S. forces about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of London.
Police launched that investigation after a farmer reported suspicious white vans near the airbase. Officers found petrol inside the vehicles but no explosives.
Five British men in their 20s were arrested, while a sixth suspect, a 25-year-old dual British-Iranian national, was later detained in London. All six have been released on bail while the investigation continues.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there are “strong indications” of Iranian involvement in the suspected Fairford plot.
IRAN REJECTS ALLEGATIONS
However, Iran has rejected accusations of involvement in alleged plots in Britain, with its embassy in London “categorically” rejecting suggestions of Iranian involvement in the Fairford case as “unfounded and malicious.”
The cases come amid heightened concern over alleged Iranian operations in Britain and threats against Jewish communities and Iranian dissidents.
Antisemitic incidents have risen sharply since the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The latest arrests were expected to fuel Britain’s heated debate over immigration, asylum screening and the continuing arrival of migrants across the English Channel.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
