British counter-terrorism police arrested eight men including seven Iranians earlier this month in two separate operations in what the British interior minister called some of the biggest investigations of their kind in recent years.

Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori were charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between Aug 14, 2024, and Feb 16, 2025, the police said in a statement.

The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran, they added.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has previously said he was “disturbed” to learn that Iranian citizens had been arrested by British authorities.

The British government has placed Iran on the highest tier of its foreign influence register, requiring Tehran to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK.