Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

Police in Britain have charged two men. The men are from Iran. Their names are Rahman Salehi, who is 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, who is 36.

Police say the men planned an attack on Jewish people in Manchester. Manchester is a big city in the north of England. Police arrested the men on September 20.

Police say the men tried to buy parts for a bomb. They say the men also looked at places for an attack. The men talked to someone who may be in Iran.

The men went to a court in London this weekend. They will go to another court on October 23. The government of Iran says it did not help the men.

police

People whose job is to stop crime and keep others safe.

charge

To say in a legal way that someone has done a crime.

arrest

When police take someone away because of a crime.

plan

To decide how to do something before you do it.

attack

An act of violence that tries to hurt people.

bomb

A weapon that explodes and can hurt many people.

court

A place where a judge decides if someone broke the law.

city

A big place where many people live and work.

Level 2 — Elementary

British counterterrorism police have charged two Iranian men with preparing an act of terrorism in Manchester. The men are Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36. Police arrested them on September 20, the day Yom Kippur began. Yom Kippur is the most important holy day in the Jewish year.

Officers say the two men tried to get parts and equipment to build a homemade bomb. They also say the men visited and studied possible targets in the city, which police call reconnaissance. According to police, the pair were in contact with a third person outside Britain who may be in Iran.

The men appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London this weekend. Their case will move to the Old Bailey, a famous criminal court, on October 23. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said the news had worried Jewish communities during the High Holy day period.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said it is no secret that Britain faces a range of serious threats from the Iranian regime. The Iranian government denies any involvement in the alleged plot, as it has denied similar accusations in the past.

counterterrorism

Work done by police or government to stop terrorist attacks.

terrorism

Violence used against ordinary people to create fear for political reasons.

reconnaissance

Secretly looking at a place to gather information before acting.

equipment

The tools and items needed to do a particular job.

holy day

A special religious day set aside for worship.

community

A group of people who share a place, religion or background.

deny

To say that something is not true.

accusation

A statement that someone has done something wrong.

Level 3 — Intermediate

Two Iranian nationals have been charged in Britain with preparing to commit, or assisting another person to commit, an act of terrorism in Manchester on or before Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, were detained on September 20, the day the fast began, and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London over the weekend. The case has been sent to the Old Bailey, where the next hearing is scheduled for October 23.

According to counterterrorism officers, the two men allegedly attempted to acquire components and equipment to construct an improvised explosive device, and conducted reconnaissance on potential targets in and around Manchester, a city with one of the largest Jewish populations in Britain. Investigators added that the pair were in contact with an overseas third party who may be in Iran, a detail that turns a local criminal case into a question of foreign state involvement.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans acknowledged that the charges had caused real concern among Jewish communities during the High Holy day period, when synagogues are at their fullest and security is already tight. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood framed the case in broader terms, saying it is no secret that Britain faces a range of serious threats from the Iranian regime.

Tehran rejects the allegation, as it has rejected a series of similar claims in Europe and elsewhere. Because the men have only been charged and not convicted, the evidence behind the police account has yet to be tested in open court, and the October hearing will be the first chance for the defence to respond in detail.

national

A citizen of a particular country.

detain

To hold someone in official custody, usually by police.

improvised explosive device

A homemade bomb built from available materials rather than military parts.

component

One of the separate parts that together make up a device.

allegedly

According to a claim that has not yet been proved.

hearing

A session in court where a judge listens to a case.

defence

The lawyers and arguments acting for an accused person.

convicted

Officially found guilty of a crime by a court.

Level 4 — Advanced

The charging of two Iranian nationals over an alleged bomb plot timed to Yom Kippur has pulled a long running security argument out of the briefing room and into a criminal courtroom. Rahman Salehi, 34, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, face a single count each of preparing to commit, or assisting another to commit, an act of terrorism in Manchester on or before the holiday, which began on September 20, the day of their arrest. Their brief appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court this weekend was procedural; the substance will be argued at the Old Bailey from October 23.

The prosecution case, as summarised by counterterrorism police, rests on two strands: an alleged attempt to acquire the components and equipment needed to assemble an improvised explosive device, and reconnaissance conducted on potential targets. The strand with the widest implications is the third, namely the claim that the pair were in contact with an overseas party who may be in Iran. That assertion, if it survives disclosure and cross examination, would move the matter from the familiar category of self directed extremism toward the harder category of state linked plotting on allied soil.

British officials have been building that argument in public for some time. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's observation that it is no secret that this country faces a range of serious threats from the Iranian regime reads less as a response to one case than as the restatement of a settled assessment, and it lands at a moment when Iran is already the subject of intense diplomatic and military attention. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans struck a different register, addressing the lived consequence for Jewish communities during the High Holy day period, when attendance peaks and protective security is at its most visible and most costly.

Two cautions are worth holding onto. The first is evidential: the police narrative is an allegation, the defence has yet to be heard, and the standard the Crown must meet at trial is considerably higher than the one required to charge. The second is diplomatic: Tehran denies involvement here, as it has denied a run of comparable accusations across Europe, and attribution to a state is notoriously difficult to prove to a criminal standard even when intelligence agencies are confident. What happens in October will therefore matter well beyond Manchester, because a contested trial is one of the few forums in which such claims are tested rather than merely asserted.

procedural

Concerned with the formal steps of a process rather than its substance.

prosecution

The side in a criminal case that argues the accused is guilty.

disclosure

The legal duty to share relevant evidence with the other side.

cross examination

Questioning of a witness by the opposing lawyer to test their account.

attribution

The act of identifying who is responsible for something.