UK police investigate Iran link to Jewish ambulances attack

Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire early Monday in London in what British police are investigating as an antisemitic hate crime. Detectives are working to determine whether a claim of responsibility from a group with alleged links to Iran is authentic. Though it has not been classified as a terrorist incident, counterterror officers have been put in charge of the investigation. No one was injured in the nighttime attack, which shattered windows in nearby homes and left the vehicles charred shells. “We are pursuing all lines of inquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links,” Mark Rowley, chief of London’s Metropolitan Police, said. Religious and political leaders condemned what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “horrific” attack.

“Antisemitism has no place in our society and it’s really important that we all stand together at a moment like this,” said Starmer, who met Jewish community leaders at 10 Downing St on Monday to discuss the response to the attack.