CENTRAL NEWS
Iran terrorists caught stockpiling tonnes of explosive materials on the outskirts of London in a secret British bomb factory.
Radicals linked to Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group, stashed thousands of disposable ice packs containing ammonium nitrate – a common ingredient in homemade bombs.
The report said the arrest came just months after the UK joined the US and other world powers in signing the Iran nuclear deal and speculated that it was hushed up to avoid derailing the agreement with Tehran, which is the main supporter of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Four properties were raided in North West London. A man in his forties was arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorism but was eventually released without charges. The paper quoted “well-placed sources” as saying that “the plot had been disrupted by a covert intelligence operation rather than seeking a prosecution.”
The covert operation was reportedly launched after a tip-off- which the Telegraph understands came from a foreign government. MI5’s intelligence investigation is understood to have lasted months was part of an effort to disrupt the plot and also get an insight into what Hezbollah was plotting.
However, there was no evidence that the UK was to be a target of any bomb attacks, it’s reported.
A UK intelligence source said: “MI5 worked independently and closely with international partners to disrupt the threat of malign intent from Iran and its proxies in the UK.” The news comes amid mounting tensions between Iran and the west and after Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced a blanket ban on those with links to Hezbollah.
In February, he ruled all UK supporters of the Iran-backed group will face up to 10 years in prison.
It was disclosed that the Cyprus case was strikingly similar to the one in London. In 2015 in Cyprus, confessed Hezbollah agent Hussein Bassam Abdallah was sentenced to six years in jail after he was found with 8.2 tons of ammonia nitrate in his home. He had reportedly planned to attack Israeli targets.
