London arson attacks on Jewish sites linked to possible Iranian proxies

The threat to British Jews has shifted from isolated vandalism to what police now describe as a linked series of arson attacks on Israeli- and Jewish-linked premises in north-west London, with investigators openly examining whether the pattern reflects the use of Iranian criminal proxies. The latest attack hit Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, where a bottle containing an accelerant was thrown through a window, causing smoke damage but no injuries or serious structural damage.

The synagogue sits near a school and a children’s playground, a detail that sharpened concern as officers maintained a cordon around the area and forensic teams, fire investigation dogs and plainclothes officers worked the scene. The Metropolitan Police said Counter Terrorism Policing is leading the investigation into the cluster of incidents, and that most have been claimed online by a group calling itself Ashab al-Yamin, or the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right. Police said the incidents appear similar and are aimed at Jewish and Israeli-linked targets.

That same police statement marked a hardening of the threat picture. Investigators said they are considering whether the tactic mirrors the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and that the case may include offences under the National Security Act. The inquiry is no longer confined to one burnt building or one borough. Police said it also covers attacks in the past month on synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and a Persian-language media organisation critical of Iran’s government.

The latest wave follows the March 23 arson attack in Golders Green, where four ambulances from Hatzola, the volunteer Jewish emergency service, were destroyed and nearby homes were evacuated. Thirty-four residents were displaced. Three suspects were later charged in that case, and police said an enhanced, bespoke policing plan is in place across vulnerable parts of London, backed by highly visible armed patrols.

Jewish leaders say the danger is intensifying. Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said the violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is “gathering momentum,” describing the latest attack as cowardly. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled and promised that those responsible would be found and brought to justice.

The Community Security Trust warned on March 2 that the conflict with Iran heightens the risk to Jewish and Israeli communities in the UK, and urged institutions to keep gates and doors closed, guarded and under strict security protocols. That warning now reads less like caution and more like a grim map of where the threat has already landed: at synagogues, at ambulances, and in neighborhoods where families now wait behind police tape for the next attack to be stopped before it spreads further.