Iran says 'disturbed' by UK arrest of Iranians in terrorism probes

CAIRO -Iran's foreign ministry rejected accusations brought by Britain following the weekend arrest of seven Iranians in two separate counter-terrorism operations, state media reported on Wednesday.

Four of the detained Iranians were suspected of plotting to target specific premises, while the three others were suspected of involvement in foreign power threat activity, according to British police, who extended their detention until May 10 for questioning.

"The unpleasant habit of some British officials in repeating baseless and undocumented claims against Iran is undoubtedly detrimental to bilateral relations and exacerbates Iranians' historical distrust toward the British government," said Alireza Yousefi, the Iranian foreign ministry's director general for Western Europe.

Yousefi called for immediate information to be provided to Iran regarding the reasons for detaining the Iranian nationals.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that he was "disturbed" to learn of the arrests but that Tehran was ready to assist in investigations if "credible allegations of misconduct are established."

British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said on Sunday that the two counter-terror operations were "some of the biggest counter state threats" the country had seen in recent years.

The arrests came as the UK government had placed Iran on the highest tier of its foreign influence register, requiring Tehran to register everything it does to exert political influence in Britain.

The head of MI5 domestic spy agency, Ken McCallum, said last year that since 2022, officers have responded to 20 Iran-backed plots which posed lethal threats to British citizens and residents.

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