Iran is conducting a covert operation to “kill and kidnap” people in the UK and US, the State Department has warned.

The United States and more than a dozen of its allies, including the United Kingdom, accused Tehran of conducting a campaign to murder and abduct dissidents, journalists and officials around the world.

“We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty,” a joint statement read.

“These services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organisations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens, and current and former officials in Europe and North America. This is unacceptable.”

Earlier this month, Britain’s spy agencies warned that Iran had targeted “prominent Jewish individuals” in at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap people in the UK.

In May, a suspected Iranian terror attack in Birmingham hours away from being launched was foiled by counter-terror police. Police were deployed to Rochdale, Swindon, west London, Stockport and Manchester in response.

Five men, including four Iranian nationals, were arrested at locations across England on Saturday in what the Home Secretary described as one of the biggest counter-terror operations in recent years.

In the United States, two purported mobsters were convicted of a plot to assassinate Masih Alinejad, the Iranian American journalist, at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme financed by Tehran.