Two Iranian Boat Arrivals Charged Over Manchester Jewish Community Bomb Plot
October 3, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Salam Ahmadyan, 36, and Rahman Salehi, 34, both entered Britain by small boat and were permitted to remain before being charged with preparing a bomb attack on Manchester's Jewish community. One holds asylum status; the other has a live asylum claim.
Two men who entered Britain on small boats are now charged with plotting a bomb attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, one having been granted asylum and the other holding a live asylum claim at the time of their arrest.
Salam Ahmadyan, 36, of Liverpool, and Rahman Salehi, 34, of Salford, were arrested on September 20, 2026, and charged on October 2 with engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts, contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. Counter Terrorism Policing says the alleged plot targeted Manchester's Jewish community in the days around Yom Kippur.
The charges are specific. According to Counter Terrorism Policing, the two men allegedly communicated via encrypted applications to acquire bomb components, obtained a document titled "Steps for Making a Powder Chlorine and Car Brake Oil/Fluid Bomb", gathered video instructions for building an improvised explosive device, acquired the liquids and equipment to assemble one, researched targets online, and conducted physical reconnaissance. Officers searched addresses in Epworth Street, Liverpool, and Lancaster Road, Salford.
Both men are Iranian nationals. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed, in a statement issued minutes after the charges were announced, that one arrived by small boat in 2020 and the other in 2023. One was granted asylum. The other has a live asylum claim. Counter Terrorism Policing says an overseas third party, believed to be in Iran, was in contact with the pair in connection with the plot.
Mahmood's statement acknowledged the arrivals but stopped well short of explaining how either man passed any security assessment. She said the fact both arrived by small boat was "a reminder of the importance of our relentless work to tackle illegal migration" and that "while numbers are down, I know there is more we must do." She gave no account of what vetting was applied to either man in the years between his arrival and his arrest, or why one of those processes ended with a full asylum grant.
The arrests fell on September 20, hours before Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. They came one year after a terrorist attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester in which, the Guardian reports, two worshippers died. The Community Safety Trust, which provides security advice to British Jews, said the charges were "deeply concerning to Jews across the UK" and "a reminder of the ongoing terrorist threats facing British Jews."
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans of Counter Terrorism Policing separated this case from a distinct incident at RAF Fairford, where five men were arrested near the military base. "While this incident and the investigation into the RAF Fairford incident are not connected in any way," she said, the week "brought into sharp focus some of the wider threats being projected into the UK from Iran." Mahmood added that the Iranian regime "targets our Jewish communities and tries to silence their critics overseas, often through proxies and criminal networks."
The Guardian reported both men arrived when the Conservatives were in power, one in 2020 and one in 2023. For at least one of them, the assessment of that claim produced full asylum status. Both are now in custody charged with bomb-making.
The numbers that matter here are not the boat arrival totals or the processing backlogs. They are two: the number of people charged, both of whom the British state admitted and sheltered.
FryskTwa manlju dy't Brittanje binnenkamen mei lytse boaten, binne no oanklage foar it plannen fan in bomoanslach op de Joadske mienskip yn Manchester. Ien krige asyl, de oare hie in asyloanfraach dy't noch rûn op it momint fan syn oanhouding.
Salam Ahmadyan, 36, út Liverpool, en Rahman Salehi, 34, út Salford, waarden op 20 septimber 2026 arresteare en op 2 oktober oanklage foar it útfieren fan hannelingen yn tarieding fan terroristyske aksjes, yn striid mei artikel 5 fan de Terrorism Act 2006. Counter Terrorism Policing seit dat it bewearde komplôt rjochte wie op de Joadske mienskip fan Manchester yn de dagen rûn Jom Kipoer.
De beskuldigingen binne spesifyk. Neffens Counter Terrorism Policing kommunisearren de twa manlju nei alle gedachten fia fersifere applikaasjes om ûnderdieltsjes foar in bom te bemachtigjen, krigen se in dokumint mei de titel 'Steps for Making a Powder Chlorine and Car Brake Oil/Fluid Bomb', garre se fideo-ynstruksjes foar it bouwen fan in selsmakke bom, krigen se de floeistoffen en apparatuer om ien gear te setten, sochten se online nei doelen, en fierde se fysike ferkenning út. Plysjes sochten adressen ôf op Epworth Street yn Liverpool en Lancaster Road yn Salford.
Baide manlju binne Iraanske nasjonalen. Minister fan Binnenlânske Saken Shabana Mahmood befêstige, yn in ferklearring útjûn minuten neidat de beskuldigingen oankundige waarden, dat ien yn 2020 mei in lyts boat oankaam en de oare yn 2023. Ien krige asyl. De oare hat in asyloanfraach dy't noch rint. Counter Terrorism Policing seit dat in tredde partij yn it bûtenlân, nei alle gedachten yn Iran, kontakt hie mei de twa yn ferbân mei it komplôt.
De ferklearring fan Mahmood erkende de oankomsten, mar kaam lang net sa fier as in útlis oer hoe't ien fan de manlju in feiligensbeoardieling trochrûn. Se sei dat it feit dat beide mei in lyts boat oankamen 'in oantinken wie oan it belang fan ús ûnfermindere wurk om yllegale migraasje oan te pakken' en dat 'wylst de sifers sakke binne, wit ik dat der mear is wat wy dwaan moatte.' Se joech gjin útlis oer hokker screening op ien fan de manlju tapast wie yn de jierren tusken syn oankomst en syn oanhouding, of wêrom ien fan dy prosessen einearre mei in folsleine asylstatus.
De arrestaasjes fûnen plak op 20 septimber, ûren foar Jom Kipoer, de hillichste dei yn de Joadske kalinder. Se kamen ien jier neidat in terroristyske oanslach by de Heaton Park synagoge yn Manchester, dêr't neffens de Guardian twa bidders by stoaren. De Community Safety Trust, dy't feiligensadvys jout oan Britske Joaden, sei dat de beskuldigingen 'djip soargjend foar Joaden yn it hiele Feriene Keninkryk' wiene en 'in oantinken oan de oanhâldende terroristyske bedrigingen foar Britske Joaden.'
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans fan Counter Terrorism Policing ûnderskiede dizze saak fan in apart ynsidint by RAF Fairford, dêr't fiif manlju arresteare waarden yn de buert fan de militêre basis. 'Wylst dit ynsidint en it ûndersyk nei it RAF Fairford-ynsidint op gjin inkelde wize ferbûn binne,' sei se, brochte de wike 'guon fan de brede bedrigingen dy't út Iran op it Feriene Keninkryk projisearre wurde, skerp yn fokus.' Mahmood foege deroan ta dat it Iraanske regear 'ús Joadske mienskippen rjochtet en besiket syn kritisy yn it bûtenlân it swijen op te lizzen, faak troch proksy's en kriminele netwurken.'
De Guardian melde dat beide manlju oankamen doe't de Konservatieven oan de macht wiene, ien yn 2020 en ien yn 2023. Foar op syn minst ien fan harren levere de beoardieling fan dy oanfraach folsleine asylstatus op. Beide sitte no yn hechting en binne oanklage foar it meitsjen fan bommen.
De sifers dy't hjir fan belang binne, binne net de totale oantallen boatoankomsten of de efterstannen yn de ôfhanneling. It binne twa: it oantal minsken dat oanklage is, fan wa't de Britske steat beide talitten en opfongen hat.
Published October 3, 2026 · Frisian News