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Police investigate possible Iranian state ties to Golders Green arson
Metropolitan Police are examining whether an Iran-linked group was behind the early Monday torching of four Jewish charity ambulances in north London, the force's commissioner revealed. The blaze triggered explosions from onboard gas canisters and damaged a nearby synagogue.
Attack details and aftermath
The fire erupted around dawn in a Golders Green car park adjacent to Machzike Hadath Synagogue. Security footage and eyewitnesses reported three suspects fleeing the scene. By Tuesday morning, police had lifted the cordon, leaving charred ambulance frames and scattered medical debris.
Exploding oxygen canisters shattered stained-glass windows in the synagogue and blew out windows up to the fourth floor of an adjacent residential building. Synagogue president Damon Hoff credited rapid emergency response for preventing structural fire damage, noting the building reopened for prayers the same day.
Government and police response
Health Secretary Wes Streeting visited the site Monday and pledged government funding for four replacement ambulances, which the London Ambulance Service confirmed would arrive at 13:00 GMT Tuesday.
Speaking at a Community Security Trust event, Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley described a "grave" escalation in Iranian state threats, citing 20 disrupted plots and recent attempts to target the Iranian diaspora. He stressed the attack was being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, not terrorism, but said investigators were pursuing "all lines of enquiry," including an online claim by an Islamist group with potential Iranian ties.
"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."
Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called the attack "so warped it defies words," framing it as an assault on the entire country. Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation, with Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor telling BBC Radio 4 that Iranian-backed plots since October 2024 had included assassination, kidnapping, and espionage.
Security measures and community impact
Police have deployed 264 additional officers to protect Jewish communities in London, alongside increased armed patrols, drones, and live facial recognition technology. Taylor acknowledged the "huge impact" such incidents have on Jewish communities and vowed to bring perpetrators to justice.
Lord Beamish of the Intelligence and Security Committee noted a pattern of Iran targeting dissidents and Jewish communities "through proxies," urging unity in response.
Hatzola's role and fundraising
The attacked ambulances belonged to Hatzola, a volunteer-run Jewish emergency medical service operating in north London since 1979. The charity, whose name means "rescue" in Hebrew, provides free medical response and hospital transport regardless of faith, collaborating with local emergency services in London, Manchester, Gateshead, Essex, and Hertfordshire.
Laurence Blitz, a Hatzola representative, condemned the attack as "shocking for any normal-minded person," emphasizing the organization's lifesaving mission. Over £1 million has been raised across multiple GoFundMe campaigns to support Hatzola's recovery.
Diplomatic repercussions
The UK Foreign Office summoned Iran's ambassador to London, Seyed Ali Mousavi, on Monday to address what it called Iran's "reckless and destabilising actions" in Britain and abroad. The move followed an unsubstantiated claim of responsibility by the Iran-aligned group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, which has also claimed recent attacks on Jewish sites in Belgium and the Netherlands.
