From the Telegraph and GB News (thanks to RH)
Counter-terror police believe assailants recruited by the Iranian regime could be behind a spate of arson attacks on Jewish-linked sites.
A firebomb was thrown through a synagogue window in Harrow on Saturday night, in the fourth such attack on north London’s Jewish community in the past month.
Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI), an Islamist militant group linked to Iran, has claimed responsibility for all the attacks.
They include attempted firebombings of a Jewish synagogue in Finchley and the former offices of a Jewish charity in Hendon, as well as the firebombing of four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in Golders Green.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Vicki Evans, confirmed that the force is looking into whether the arson attacks against Jewish sites have all been carried out by Iranian proxies. . . “This is recruiting violence as a service and the people who conduct that violence often have little or no allegiance to the cause and are taking quick cash for their crimes.. . ”
Police suspect that HAYI, who confirmed their involvement in the attack on Telegram, may have ties to Iranian intelligence services.
This marks the fifth incident attributed to HAYI in less than four weeks. The group’s emblem depicts a raised fist clutching a rifle. The organisation has additionally claimed responsibility for multiple antisemitic attacks across Europe since hostilities began between Iran and the coalition of Israel and the United States.
Although Jewish Futures vacated the premises several months ago, residential flats housing numerous tenants occupy the floors above.
Campaigners from the Jewish community have described the attacks as “a cataclysmic failure of the state” to tackle extremism.
Counter-terror police are leading the investigation into the incident at Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, where a bottle containing accelerant was thrown through the window of a medical room at 11.30pm.
Rabbi Yehuda Black of Kenton United Synagogue said the medical room had been “badly damaged”, but added: “We are undeterred.”
He said the community was “not putting their heads down”, adding that they had worshipped at a different location on Sunday morning and that more people were in attendance than normal, “which shows our determination”.
Rabbi Black said the community did not feel supported by Brent council and criticised a decision made last year to twin with Nablus, a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank.
He said the decision had “excluded” his community and made attacks like Sunday’s more likely, adding: “We were very strongly against [the decision] but our concerns were not listened to.”
