British authorities charged two Iranian nationals on Friday, October 3, 2026, with preparing a terrorist attack targeting Manchester’s Jewish community using a homemade bomb. Police arrested Rahman Salehi and Salam Ahmadyan during the holiday period on September 20, with investigators alleging the pair communicated with an overseas third party likely located in Iran.
Counterterrorism Arrests and Bomb-Making Materials Discovered in Manchester and Liverpool
The Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing launched a joint operation with security services that culminated in the arrests of 34-year-old Rahman Salehi of Salford and 36-year-old Salam Ahmadyan of Liverpool. Detectives detained the two Iranian nationals in broad daylight on a Manchester street on Sunday, September 20, as Jewish communities observed Yom Kippur. Investigators searched residential properties on Epworth Street in Liverpool and Lancaster Road in Salford as part of the inquiry.
Following detention, the Crown Prosecution Service formally charged both men with engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts. Police statements allege that the suspects acquired components and equipment to build an improvised explosive device, obtained video instructions on constructing a bomb, and downloaded a document titled Steps for Making [a] Powder Chlorine and Car Brake Oil/Fluid Bomb
. Prosecutors also stated that the men conducted reconnaissance on potential targets and mapped out locations for an attack.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Warns of Iranian State Threats
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood revealed that both suspects arrived in the UK separately after crossing the Channel in small boats several years ago. Records indicate Salehi and Ahmadyan arrived in 2020 and 2023, with one individual granted asylum while the other maintains a live asylum claim.
Mahmood issued a direct warning regarding Tehran’s activities following the charges, noting that the Iranian regime targets Jewish communities and attempts to silence overseas critics through criminal proxies. Shabana Mahmood stated in an official release: This news will be deeply distressing for our Jewish communities, coming so soon after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Mahmood further stated that Britain faces a range of serious threats from the Iranian regime,
adding that Tehran targets Jewish communities and attempts to silence critics abroad by hiding its involvement through proxies and criminal networks. Both men were remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage criticized government border policies, pointing to previous warnings regarding maritime migration routes.
Timing Coincides with Heaton Park Synagogue Anniversary and High Holy Days
Senior law enforcement officials emphasized the acute anxiety the charges bring to Jewish communities across the United Kingdom. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, noted that the disruption occurred during a period of heightened antisemitic incidents nationwide. The arrests landed on the Jewish calendar’s holiest day and arrived one year after a deadly knife and gun assault at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in northern Manchester on October 2, 2025, which claimed two lives. Woods noted that comprehensive and ongoing policing plans across Jewish communities remain in place as authorities work closely with community leaders and British Counter-Terrorism Police.
The Community Security Trust issued a statement emphasizing that the charging of two men shows that security threats persist. Woods confirmed that comprehensive and ongoing policing plans across Jewish areas remain in active deployment. Authorities have stressed that despite simultaneous high-profile security investigations involving an air base at RAF Fairford, counterterrorism police maintain that the Manchester bomb plot and the air base inquiry are entirely unconnected.
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