British authorities have charged two Iranian nationals with planning a terrorist attack against the Jewish community in northern England. The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Friday that Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, were charged with preparing to commit or assisting another to commit an act of terrorism in Manchester “on or before” Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which began at sundown on September 20. Details of the alleged plot have not been released, but police have confirmed its “disruption”.
Counterterrorism police said Salehi and Ahmadyan, both arrested in Manchester on September 20, allegedly tried to acquire components and equipment to make an improvised explosive device and conducted reconnaissance on potential targets for attack. The pair will appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, the CPS said. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Salehi and Ahmadyan arrived in the UK on a small boat from Europe several years ago.
One of the men had been granted asylum and the other had a live asylum claim, the Home Office said. The charges come a year after two people were killed in a knife and gun attack by a British citizen of Syrian descent at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in northern Manchester on October 2, 2025. Britain said Tehran had been involved in an alleged plot earlier this week targeting an air base used by the US to launch attacks against Iran.
Iran denied any involvement in the RAF Fairford plot and said speculation would “fuel Iranophobia propaganda”.
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