UK police probe possible Iran link after Jewish charity ambulances set on fire : NPR

A view of ambulances set on fire in a car park in Golders Green, London, Monday March 23, 2026, after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.

Alberto Pezzali/AP

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Alberto Pezzali/AP

LONDON — Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire early Monday in London in what British police are investigating as an anti-Semitic hate crime. Detectives are working to determine whether the claim of responsibility by a group with alleged ties to Iran is genuine.

Although this was not a terrorist incident, counter-terrorism officers were tasked with the investigation. No one was injured in the nighttime attack, which shattered windows of nearby houses and left vehicles charred by shells.

“We are pursuing all lines of inquiry, including an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group which has claimed responsibility for other attacks across Europe and is believed to have potential links to the Iranian state,” said Mark Rowley, chief of London’s Metropolitan Police.

Religious and political leaders condemned what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “horrific” attack.

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

Police were called to Golders Green, a north London area with a large Jewish population, after receiving reports of a fire, the Metropolitan Police said. Four ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest, a voluntary organization which provides emergency medical services, were damaged, according to the London Fire Brigade.

The vehicles’ oxygen tanks exploded, shattering the windows of a nearby building. Neighboring homes were evacuated as a precaution.

What appeared to be security camera footage showed three figures in black wearing balaclavas carrying a canister towards one of the ambulances before flames erupted around the vehicle. Police said they were looking for three suspects, but no arrests have yet been made.

Police attempt to authenticate claim of responsibility

A video posted on Telegram, allegedly by an Islamist group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, showed a map of where ambulances were kept and images of them on fire. A group of the same name, which translates to Islamic Movement of Right Companions, had previously claimed responsibility for attacks on synagogues in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Israeli government has called it a recently founded group suspected of links to pro-Iranian networks.

“The rapid growth of threats against the Iranian state in recent years is serious,” Rowley said at the annual dinner of the Community Security Trust, which works to ensure the security of the Jewish community organization. But he said “it is too early for me to attribute last night’s attack in Golders Green to the Iranian state.”

The attack has sowed fear and concern among Britain’s Jewish community, around 300,000 strong, who are feeling increasingly vulnerable.

Mark Reisner, who lives in the area, heard loud explosions and arrived at the scene “just as the third ambulance exploded”, he told Sky News.

“A very loud explosion, you kind of felt it go through your gut,” he said, adding: “It left us all in shock and confusion.”

Previous attacks on British Jewry

The number of anti-Semitic incidents reported across the UK has soared since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza that followed, according to the Community Security Trust, which works to protect the Jewish community. The group recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, compared to 1,662 in 2022.

In October 2025, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and stabbed one person to death. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.

Last week, two men were charged in London with carrying out “hostile” surveillance of Britain’s Jewish community on behalf of Iran last year.

Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said the force would increase security at Jewish schools, synagogues and community centers ahead of Passover next month:

Some members of the community criticize Starmer’s Labor government for failing to prevent pro-Palestinian protests from escalating into anti-Jewish speech and actions.

Peter Zinkin, a Conservative politician who represents Golders Green on the local council, said the community felt “distress and anger”.

“Burning ambulances in the middle of the night is a shame,” he said. “And you have to ask yourself why has this happened? And the reason I’m afraid that this is happening is because the government and the media, particularly parts of the media, have validated anti-Semitism on a national scale.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, head of the Anglican Church, said “such acts of violence, hatred and intimidation have no place in our society.”

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called it a “sickening assault.”

“As Jewish communities around the world face an increase in these violent attacks, we will approach this moment with shared resolve and stand united against hatred and intimidation,” he wrote on X.