U.K. police accuse 2 Iranian men of planning terror attack on Manchester’s Jewish community

October 2, 2026 / 10:04 PM EDT / CBS/AFP

Two Iranian men have been charged with plotting a terror attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, British police said Friday.

The arrests come nearly a year after a deadly knife and gun attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in northern Manchester, where worshipers had gathered for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Two people died in that Oct. 2, 2025, attack.

U.K. Metropolitan Police said in a news release that 36-year-old Salam Ahmadyan of Liverpool and 34-year-old Rahman Salehi of Salford, both Iranian nationals, were arrested in Manchester on Sept. 20.

"It is alleged that the two men were in contact with an overseas third-party who may be in Iran in relation to the plot," the Met wrote.

Details of the alleged plot have not been released, but police have confirmed its "disruption."

"We do not believe there to be any ongoing threat to the public in relation to this matter," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said in a statement.

"This news will be deeply distressing for our Jewish communities, coming so soon after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur," British Home Minister Shabana Mahmood said…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/