A foiled attack on the Israeli embassy in London was plotted by Iran’s notorious Revolutionary Guard to derail nuclear peace talks with the US, it has been reported. MI5 and counter-terror police swooped in a series of raids on Saturday to arrest four Iranians and stop an ‘imminent’ assault on the embassy, a stone’s throw away from Kensington Palace in central London. Sources inside the regime told the Daily Telegraph that a hardline faction within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sanctioned the attack. The alleged plot involved gunmen launching an assault on the embassy, the newspaper reported. Security minister Dan Jarvis this week described the arrest of the four alleged plotters, and that of a second Iranian cell suspected of espionage activity, as 'some of the largest counter state threats and counter-terrorism actions we have seen in recent times.' The threat was considered so serious that armed special forces teams were drafted in to assist counter terrorism officers carry out raids of properties in Rochdale, Swindon, London, Manchester and Stockport in unprecedented scenes. Iran has officially denied any involvement and even suggested the alleged plot was a ‘false flag’ operation designed to discredit the regime. But an Iranian official in Tehran told the Telegraph an internal investigation had been launched into whether the attack had been sanctioned from within to disrupt talks over the country’s nuclear programme. ‘Not everyone in the Sepah [IRGC] is happy with the talks with the Americans, and an investigation has begun to understand what’s going on with these arrests,’ they said. The plot had not been discussed at ‘leadership level’, the source added. ‘There are many others who could have plotted it without informing senior commanders,’ they said. ‘The investigation will clarify the facts.’ An attack on the embassy and subsequent international outrage may have forced the US to cancel talks over Iran’s nuclear programme. The official added: ‘They could have targeted Israeli assets anywhere in the region, but they chose London, the heart of Europe, because that’s the only way to disrupt the [nuclear] negotiations. ‘We are almost certain that whoever did it was motivated by the progress being made in the talks.’ Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on Israeli embassies across Europe in the last year. The ongoing negotiations are aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. The nation is currently enriching uranium to purity above the limits set by a 2015 agreement with five member states of the United Nations – but it is below the 90 per cent needed for weapons-grade material. The IRGC, which controls Iran’s military operations overseas, has overtly offered support for the nuclear talks. Rasoul Sanaeirad, political deputy in Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, has said: ‘The IRGC supports the team negotiating with America.’ This position marks a u-turn from the IRGC’s longstanding stance of complete distrust of the US. Its former vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, said earlier this month: ‘I had said that the further the negotiations go and the more positive the outcome, the more opponents of the negotiations will start to mobilise on both sides and blow up a mine right in the middle of the negotiating table. ‘But the notable thing is that even the hardliners opposed to negotiations in Iran have remained silent and are not seriously disrupting the work.’