A plan to attack the Jewish community in Northern England using improvised explosives was detailed during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday. Salam Ahmadyan, 36, and Rahman Salehi, 34, were remanded in custody and are scheduled to appear at the Old Bailey on Oct 23. Prosecutors allege the pair conducted reconnaissance of targets, including Manchester's Jewish Museum and Heaton Park synagogue—the site of a fatal attack last year—and acquired instructions for a powder chlorine and car brake oil bomb before their arrest on Sept 20.

The Iranian nationals entered the UK via small boats in 2020 and 2023, with one granted asylum and the other holding a live claim. Counter Terror Police allege the suspects were in contact with a third party who may be in Iran, though authorities have not established if the Iranian state directed the plot. The arrests follow a separate disrupted plot targeting RAF Fairford, a UK airbase used by US bombers.