British authorities said Friday that a 39-year-old man has been charged over allegations that he helped Iran’s intelligence service, marking the latest case tied to Tehran and suspected offenses under the United Kingdom’s national security legislation.
The suspect, identified by police as Vahid Aberi of Liverpool in northern England, was brought to a police station in central England. Officers also carried out searches at properties in Liverpool and nearby Birmingham as part of the investigation.
UK security officials have repeatedly raised concerns that Iran is attempting to rely on criminal networks and proxy actors to conduct hostile operations on British soil.
Since the start of the US-Iran war, Britain has seen several antisemitic attacks that officials have linked to Iran.
Earlier this week, the British government moved to use newly introduced powers aimed at countering state-backed proxy activity, banning support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In relation to the Aberi case, police said they had found no direct threat to any individual or community. However, they stressed that officers are increasingly being called on to disrupt suspected operations involving foreign intelligence services.
“We have seen a significant and sustained increase in the tempo of our work in national security investigations in recent years,” Helen Flanagan, who leads counter-terrorism policing in London, said in a statement.
The charge comes after Britain last week summoned Iran’s top diplomat in the UK following the stabbing of an Iranian journalist in London, an attack for which two Romanian nationals were convicted.
In response to being called a threat to Britain, Iran’s embassy in London has previously said it rejected the “unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations.”
Aberi will appear in court in London later on Friday.
