British Police Charge 39-Year-Old Man With Assisting Iran's Intelligence Service

British police charged a 39-year-old man on Friday with assisting Iran's intelligence service under UK national security laws. The suspect, identified as Vahid Aberi from Liverpool, was taken to a police station in central England. Officers conducted searches at addresses in Birmingham and Liverpool.

Police stated they had not identified any direct threat to any community or individual. They noted an increase in interventions to disrupt suspected activity by foreign intelligence services. "We have seen a significant and sustained increase in the tempo of our work in national security investigations in recent years," Helen Flanagan, head of counter terrorism policing in London, said in a statement.

banned support for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps earlier this week. Last week, Britain summoned Iran's most senior diplomat over the stabbing of an Iranian journalist in London. Aberi is scheduled to appear in court in London later on Friday.