Police and the security services have foiled 15 plots by Iran to either kidnap or kill British or UK-based individuals it considers "enemies of the regime," announced the head of the counter-terrorism policing at the Met, Matt Jukes.
According to The Guardian, Jukes confirmed that Iran International TV has "reluctantly" closed its west London studios and moved the operation to its offices in Washington DC after receiving threats from hostile threats.
Iran International, established in May 2017 in London and employs more than 100 media professionals and employees, announced that it had stopped operating from London and transferred all its 24-hour news bulletins to Washington.
The channel said that despite the temporary suspension of the London office, the 24-hour broadcast would continue from Washington, asserting that it would remain committed to providing accurate and unbiased reports on developments in Iran and the world.
Last Monday, London police announced in a statement that an Austrian citizen named Mogamed-Husejn Dovtaev, of Chechen origin, was charged with collecting information likely to be helpful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
Dovtaev was arrested on Saturday, Feb. 11, on the site of Chiswick Business Park and appeared before the court on Feb. 14. He was remanded in custody to next appear at the Old Bailey on Mar. 03.
Before his arrest, the police found Dovtaev looking into the security arrangements of the Iranian TV channel opposing Tehran's policy. After his arrest, he denied through an interpreter the charge against him.
Dovtaev was in a hurry to target Iran International by collecting information for others to target the channel, according to The Times.
The newspaper indicated that Dovtaev traveled from Vienna on Feb. 11 and went directly to the channel's headquarters upon his arrival at Gatwick Airport in London.
On his arrival, he is alleged to have put on a face mask and donned a baseball cap before appearing to take images on his phone of security. When a patrol arrived, they found him at a Starbucks coffee shop in the compound where the Iranian channel is located and arrested him.
The Director General of the Security Service (MI5), Ken McCallum, revealed last Thursday that Iran had made at least ten attempts to kidnap or even kill British nationals or individuals in the UK.
McCallum said that targeting the Iranian channel was among the thwarted terrorist plots.
