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[Telegraph] TERRORISTS linked to Iran were caught stockpiling tonnes of explosive materials on the outskirts of London in a secret British bomb factory, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.Radicals linked to Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group, stashed thousands of disposable ice packs containing ammonium nitrate ‐ a common ingredient in homemade bombs.
The plot was uncovered by MI5 and the Metropolitan Police in the autumn of 2015, just months after the UK signed up to the Iran nuclear deal.
Three tonnes of ammonium nitrate were discovered ‐ more than were used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 that killed 168 people and damaged hundreds of buildings. Police raided four properties in north-west London ‐ three businesses and a home ‐ and a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorism.
The man was eventually released without charge. Well-placed sources said the plot had been disrupted by a covert intelligence operation rather than in seeking a prosecution.
The discovery was so serious that David Cameron and Theresa May, then the prime minister and home secretary, were personally briefed on what had been found.
Yet for years it was kept hidden from the public ‐ including MPs who were debating whether to fully ban Hizbollah ‐ until today.
It raises questions about whether senior UK government figures chose not to reveal the plot in part because they were invested in keeping the Iran nuclear deal afloat.
The disclosure follows a three-month investigation by this newspaper in which more than 30 current and former officials in Britain, America and Cyprus were approached and court documents were obtained.
A well-placed source described the plot as "proper organised terrorism", while another said enough explosive materials were stored to do "a lot of damage". Ben Wallace, the security minister, said: "The Security Service and police work tirelessly to keep the public safe from a host of national security threats. Necessarily, their efforts and success will often go unseen."
Mossad tipped off UK on Hezbollah bomb plot in London in 2015 – report[IsraelTimes] Israel’s Mossad spy agency was responsible for providing British authorities with information that helped foil Hezbollah’s efforts to stockpile explosives in London in 2015, a senior Israeli official told the Kan public broadcaster Monday.
The report said Hezbollah later attempted to move its operations to other countries, which were also notified by Mossad, and that the two organizations were for some time engaged in a game of cat and mouse, as the Iran-backed group sought to realize its plans.
According to a report Sunday by The Daily Telegraph, the Hezbollah plot was part of a wider plan to lay the groundwork for future attacks. It noted foiled Hezbollah operations in Thailand, Cyprus, and New York. All those plots were believed to have targeted Israeli interests around the world.