Hezbollah-linked terrorists had a secret bomb factory in London, in which they stockpiled tons of explosives, British media reported over the weekend.
The site was discovered by the British Security Service, MI5, outside London in the autumn of 2015.
According to The Daily Telegraph, terrorists had stockpiled thousands of ice packs containing ammonium nitrate at a site just outside the British capital. Three metric tons of ammonium nitrate – a common ingredient in homemade bombs – was said to have been discovered.
A police source told the newspaper that the plot was "proper organized terrorism" and that enough explosive materials were stored to do "a lot of damage."
The covert operation was reportedly launched after the British Security Service received information from a foreign government, the name of which was not disclosed.
A U.K. intelligence source told The Sun, "MI5 worked independently and closely with international partners to disrupt the threat of malign intent from Iran and its proxies in the U.K."
According to the report, the discovery took place just a few months following a nuclear deal signed between Iran and the U.K. along with several other superpowers but the British government did not disclose the information to the public.
The news comes amid mounting tensions between Iran and the West and after Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced a blanket ban on those with links to Hezbollah.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the Islamic republic's chief proxy in the Middle East, is a heavily armed terrorist group, which often does Iran's bidding overseas.
The Shiite organization has been designated as a terrorist group by several western countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Israel, and Arab League member Bahrain. Some countries, such as Australia and France, only classify the group's military wing as a terrorist organization.
