Man and woman arrested in London on suspicion of spying for Iran

Counter-terrorism officers in London have arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service.

Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing London detained a 42-year-old woman at an address in north London and a 60-year-old man at an address in north-west London on Wednesday.

Both were arrested on suspicion of an offence under section 3 of the National Security Act 2023 – assisting a foreign intelligence service.

The investigation is linked to Iran.

The arrests followed searches of two residential properties in north and north-west London carried out on 24 June.

Enquiries continued after those searches and led to the latest detentions.

A third residential property in the north-west London area was also searched on Wednesday after the pair were taken into custody.

Both suspects were taken to a London police station and later released on bail with strict conditions until a date in late October.

Police have not released their names or further details of the alleged activity.

Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “We know that news of these arrests will come as a concern to some members of the public, but I want to stress that we do not believe there to be any imminent threat to the wider public in connection with this matter.”

She added: “We’ve seen a marked increase in the tempo of our work linked to national security and state threats over the past year and this investigation is a continuation of that. As we’ve shown here, if we suspect any activity could threaten the safety of the UK or the public, then we will not hesitate to take action.”

Police confirmed the investigation is not linked to earlier incidents this year targeting venues and buildings connected to Jewish and Iranian communities in London, nor to events around the High Holy Days.