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Man Arrested after British Soldier Stabbed in Attack Near Barracks

FILE - A sign stands in front of the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, in London, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
FILE - A sign stands in front of the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, in London, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
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Man Arrested after British Soldier Stabbed in Attack Near Barracks

FILE - A sign stands in front of the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, in London, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
FILE - A sign stands in front of the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, in London, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

A 24-year-old man was arrested after a soldier was stabbed and seriously injured in a street near a barracks in southeast England, police said Wednesday.
The British Army said the victim, who is in his 40s, suffered serious injuries. He was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.
The Kent Police force said officers were called Tuesday evening to reports of an assault in the town of Gillingham, 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) southeast of London.
A suspect was arrested within half an hour, police said. British police do not name suspects until they have been charged. There was no immediate word on motive.
The road where police said the attack happened is close to Brompton Barracks, the headquarters of the British Army’s 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment. The army did not confirm media reports that the soldier was in uniform at the time of the attack.
“Our thoughts are with the soldier and their family and we request that their privacy is respected at this difficult time," the army said in a statement. “We will continue to work closely with Kent Police to understand what happened and support the investigation."

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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP

A UK parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had "significantly increased".

London's response has been too focused on "crisis management", said parliament's intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran's nuclear program dominating their attention too much.

Tehran swiftly issued a "categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations".

The committee's claims were "baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran's legitimate regional and national interests", said its London embassy, AFP reported.

The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organizations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks.

Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost Britain's national security against covert foreign influences.

It requires all persons working inside the country for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard to register on a new list or face jail.

"Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals, and UK interests," Kevan Jones, chairman of the watchdog committee, said in the report's conclusions.

"Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity and its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength."

Jones said it bolstered this through proxy groups, "including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organisations, and private cyber actors" to allow for deniability.

His committee's report said that while Iran's UK activity "appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China", it "should not be underestimated".

The physical threat posed had "significantly increased" in pace and volume, and was "focused acutely on dissidents and other opponents of the regime" as well as Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK, it said.

"The Iranian Intelligence Services have shown that they are willing and able -- often through third-party agents -- to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK," the report said.

"There have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022."

Similarly, security minister Dan Jarvis said in March Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service had tallied 20 Iran-backed plots "presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents".

The watchdog committee took evidence for two years from August 2021 for its report, a period which saw Tehran implicated in a plot to kill two London-based Iran International television anchors.

In March last year one of the Persian-language outlet's journalists was stabbed outside his London home.

Two Romanian men have been charged in relation to the attack and face extradition to the UK to stand trial.

The counter-terrorism unit of London's Metropolitan Police led the investigation. Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK has said that the Tehran authorities "deny any link" to the incident.