London — British police arrested two people in a case on Wednesday Arson on four ambulances Relating to a Jewish charity, which authorities are investigating as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
Two men, aged 45 and 47, were arrested in London on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and both men have been taken to a police station in the city for questioning, the Metropolitan Police said.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of counter terrorism policing London, said the arrests were “a significant breakthrough in the investigation”. But he said surveillance camera footage of the incident showed that three people were involved.
Police have not declared the incident a terrorist attack, but a claim of responsibility by a group with possible ties to Iran is being investigated.
A fire Monday morning destroyed four ambulances belonging to the volunteer organization Hatzolah Northwest in Golders Green, a London neighborhood with a large Jewish population. Oxygen cylinders on the vehicles exploded, shattering the windows of an adjacent apartment block.
the community also declined unstable sense of securityThe Middle East is already strained by wars and what many say is growing hatred toward Jews.
Britain has accused Iran of using criminal disguises to carry out attacks targeting European soil opposition media outlets And the Jewish community. Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5 says it has foiled more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots by October.
Police are investigating a claim of responsibility posted on social media by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yameen al-Islamiyya, which translates as Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right.
The Israeli government has described it as a recently established group with suspected ties to pro-Iranian networks. Also took responsibility for the synagogue attacks In Belgium and the Netherlands.
Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley said detectives were investigating the claim but it was too early to attribute the attack to the Iranian state.
