British police said on Wednesday they had arrested two men over an arson attack on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organization in north London.
The arrests came after police said they were investigating an online claim of responsibility by a little-known Islamist group that has possible links to Iran.
The ambulances were set on fire early Monday while they were parked next to a synagogue in Golders Green, an area of London with a large Jewish population.
The Metropolitan Police said two men aged 47 and 45 were arrested by counter-terrorism detectives "on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life."
The men were arrested at addresses in central and northwestern London where officers were carrying out searches, police said.
The Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya (HAYI) group, meaning The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, claimed Monday’s attack in a Telegram post, after saying it was also responsible for similar attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Two minors were arrested in Belgium on Tuesday on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist organization after a car was set on fire in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter, also claimed by HAYI.
The SITE monitoring service said the group is aligned with Iran.
London police chief Mark Rowley said late Monday his forces were "pursuing all lines of enquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
and have potential Iranian state links."
The attack targeted ambulances run by the Jewish-run volunteer organization Hatzola, which was established in 1979 and provides free medical transportation and emergency response to Jewish and non-Jewish residents of north London.
The head of counterterrorism policing for London, Helen Flanagan, was quoted as saying on Wednesday that the arrests appeared to be an "important breakthrough in the investigation."
But the police commander added, "CCTV footage of the incident suggests there were at least three people involved."
The investigation "very much remains active" and police will "seek to arrest all of those who may have been involved," she said.
The arson attack came amid a spate of antisemitic incidents in England.
On October 2, 2025, during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, an attack on a synagogue in Manchester killed two and seriously injured three, prompting an outpouring of emotion nationwide and increasing anxiety among Jewish communities.
Last month, a UK court placed in durance vile
anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not
two men for life after police foiled a separate plot to carry out an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
-inspired gun attack on a Jewish gathering in Manchester.
And two Iranians appeared in court in London last week, accused of spying on the Jewish community in London on behalf of Tehran.
Group behind European antisemitic attacks may be only a facade, warn experts
[IsraelTimes] Targeting of Jewish sites in several cities raises concerns that Tehran may be behind newly-established, shadowy organization, already labeled ‘Iranian-backed proxy’ by Israel.