France is preparing for a terror strike targeting London.
French diplomats in the capital have carried out a “crisis management” exercise on responding to a major incident in the city.
They have sought to strengthen their emergency response plans as tensions run high over Donald Trump’s Iran war.
The Met Police recently told how MI5 and counter-terror police have disrupted more than 20 Iranian state-backed terror plots in the past year, including alleged assassination attempts targeting individuals in London.
The Standard understands that the French crisis response blueprint aims to cover all scenarios, including a terror attack affecting French citizens in London.
If this happened, diplomats at France’s Embassy in Knightsbridge would be guided by the French government’s Centre de Crise et Soutien (CDCS - Crisis and Support Centre) based in Paris.
Under plans to deal with a very challenging incident, or if it affected a large number of French citizens, CDCS agents could be flown over to help with the response.
French consular staff, who would offer support to victims and their families, also took part in the “crisis room” at the embassy in west London.
They could issue passports to French citizens and arrange repatriation flights.
French diplomats would liaise with the British authorities.
They already work closely with the UK Government, with France and Britain seconding police and military officers to each other’s ministries.
There are 300.000 French citizens in the UK, with just over half of them in London.
If they are in Britain for more than six months, they are urged to register with the French authorities, partly to facilitate a response in a time of emergency.
The American Embassy in London is urging US citizens to sign up to the State Department’s alert system amid the growing global dangers.
US authorities have also raised concerns that Iran could attempt to activate so-called “sleeper cells” overseas in retaliation for the military action targeting the Tehran regime.
Meanwhile, international leaders were due to gather in Paris on Friday in an effort to come up with a plan to ensure the Strait of Hormuz can remain open to shipping after the Middle East war ends.
Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will co-host the summit.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The summit will advance work towards a coordinated, independent, multinational plan to safeguard international shipping once the conflict ends.”
Sir Keir told MPs on Monday the UK-French initiative would involve “military planning to provide assurance to shipping” as well as diplomatic efforts.
Britain has become increasingly critical of Trump’s war, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves branding it a “folly,” accusing the US president of having had no exit plan and no clear war aims.
Mr Macron has previously said the countries participating in the initiative would work on a “strictly defensive mission, separate from the warring parties to the conflict” which “is intended to be deployed as soon as circumstances permit”.
He said the summit would bring together countries “prepared to contribute alongside us” to the “peaceful multinational mission”.
A week ago, Mr Macron welcomed a French couple back to Paris after they were held for more than three years in an Iranian prison on espionage charges.
Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, were arrested during a tourist trip in May 2022 on spying charges that France branded baseless.
They were detained in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where London mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was also held.
In Westminster, a new Cabinet committee has been established to deal with the fallout from the Iran conflict.
The Middle East Response Committee had its first meeting on Tuesday to consider the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping route vital for global oil and gas supplies.
The Prime Minister established the committee to deal with the domestic and international impacts of the war, which has driven up energy prices, caused stock market turmoil and exposed deep divisions between the US and its traditional European allies.
