Police investigating possible Iran link to attack on Jewish charity ambulances

A group with possible links to the Iranian state is being investigated in relation to an arson attack on Jewish charity-owned ambulances, the head of the Metropolitan Police has said.

Four Hatzola ambulances were set ablaze in Golders Green, London, in the early hours of Monday, leading to several explosions caused by gas canisters onboard the vehicles.

Speaking at an event on Monday evening, Sir Mark Rowley said the "rapid growth" of Iranian state threats in recent years was grave but that it was still "too early" to attribute the attack to Tehran.

Police believe three suspects were involved in the attack, which is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, not a terror incident.

Sir Mark said police were "pursuing all lines of enquiry", including "an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links".

Speaking at an annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism in the UK, the Met Police chief said the Jewish community had in recent years been "increasingly targeted by individuals, groups and hostile states".

"The rapid growth in recent years of Iranian state threats is grave: hostile state surveillance activity, 20 disrupted plots, and recent attempted attacks on the Iranian diaspora," he said.

"None of this is isolated. It is part of a rapidly shifting threat landscape."

Iran-aligned group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya - The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand - made an unsubstantiated claim of responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel.

The group has also claimed responsibility for recent incidents in Europe, including an attack on synagogue in Liege, Belgium, and explosions in the Netherlands targeting a synagogue in Rotterdam and a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

Sir Mark also outlined additional security measures being put in place, which include 264 extra police officers being deployed to protect the Jewish community in London, alongside "additional highly visible firearms patrols".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Beamish, who sits on the Intelligence and Security Committee, said there was a pattern of Iran targeted anti-government dissidents and the Jewish community "through proxies".

"The important thing is that communities are united at this point," he said.

Hatzola is a large non-profit, Jewish-led organisation that provides free emergency medical response and transportation to hospitals.

Run by volunteers, it has served the north London community of Golders Green, which has a large Jewish population, since 1979. There are dozens of synagogues throughout the area and according to the London Data Store, 49% of residents in the Golders Green ward identify as Jewish.

On Monday, Iran's ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi, was summoned by the Foreign Office over what it described as his country's "reckless and destabilising actions" in Britain and overseas.