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".

At the scene of the attack on Tuesday morning, the cordon had been lifted, with the remains of the burnt-out ambulances still on site.

In the car park of Machzike Hadath Synagogue, destroyed medical equipment could be seen inside the vehicles, with shattered glass on the floor around them.

The stained glass windows of the synagogue were cracked, with windows as high as the fourth floor of a neighbouring block of flats blown out and boarded up from what appeared to be damage from exploding oxygen canisters.

President of the synagogue, Damon Hoff, praised the quick work of the emergency services and said most of the damage was to the exterior of the building.

"Clearly this was planned," Hoff told the BBC. "This wasn't just something that happened.

"All indications are from what we've been told is there was definitely surveillance and all indications are that we need to be aware that there is surveillance on our communities and infrastructure."

Hoff said he and other congregants rushed to the synagogue after the fire started in case they need to rescue the Torah scrolls, the most important religious items inside a synagogue.

He believed it was "a miracle" the inside of the synagogue did not suffer more damage, adding that the synagogue reopened for prayer on Tuesday.

Visiting the site of the attack on Monday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government would fund the replacement of the four destroyed ambulances.

The London Ambulance Service said it stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Hatzola as the four replacement vehicles were delivered on Tuesday afternoon.

Hatzola chairman Shloimie Richman said money which had been fundraised for the service since the arson attack would be put towards a new and secure headquarters.

Speaking at an annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism in the UK, Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley 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."

Speaking at the same event, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the attack on four Jewish community ambulances was "so warped it defies words".

She said it was an attack "on this country and on us all".

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 a 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".

The investigation is currently being led by counter-terror officers.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing for the Met, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that these type of incidents had a "huge impact on Jewish communities".

He said the Iranian-backed plots disrupted in the UK since October 2024 had included "everything from assassination, to kidnap, to espionage".

He said the possibility the attack was backed by Iran is one line of inquiry and police were working to determine the motivation of the attackers.

Part of the measures used to increase security for the Jewish community include drones, live facial recognition technology, and an increased police presence, Taylor said.

"We completely understand the concerns within Jewish communities and the fear that this creates, and we are absolutely determined to bring those individuals to justice," he added.

Speaking on Tuesday, Lord Beamish, who sits on the Intelligence and Security Committee, said there was a pattern of Iran targeting anti-government dissidents and the Jewish community "through proxies".

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

Run by volunteers, Hatzola 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.

Hatzola, the Hebrew word for save or rescue, is a large non-profit, Jewish-led organisation that provides a free emergency medical response and transportation to hospitals by volunteer medics.

As well as north London, it also operates in Manchester, Gateshead, Canvey Island in Essex, and Hertfordshire, working in conjunction with local emergency services for the wider community, regardless of faith.

Speaking on Monday, Hatzola representative Laurence Blitz said it was "shocking for any normal-minded person to attack an organisation whose sole purpose is to save lives".

More than £1m has been raised across multiple GoFundMe pages to help Hatzola.

At the same event Sir Mark Rowley was speaking at on Monday, it was announced that the the King had become a patron of the Community Security Trust.

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.