Britain's anti-terror laws chief has warned that London appears to be under attack from arson strikes masterminded in Tehran. Jonathan Hall KC, the UK’s Independent Advisor on Terrorism Legislation, said there are 'indications' that a proxy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is behind a series of recent arsons at Jewish sites in the capital.
Hall believes that Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, may be carrying out the 'dirty work' of the Tehran regime by recruiting people in London and other parts of the UK to commit crimes. He called on the Government to proscribe the IRGC and the group in the UK.
The warning came as the Metropolitan Police said counter-terror officers had arrested seven people in the past 48 hours in relation to an alleged plot to target another Jewish site in London with an arson attack. The force did not specify the target.
Scotland Yard has warned that the spate of attacks on Jewish sites raises the 'troubling' prospect of a foreign state using hate crime to sow discord in the UK. Investigators are working to establish whether Iran has paid British criminals to carry out acts on UK soil.
Recent incidents include an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances, attempted arson at synagogues in Finchley and Kenton, and a former Jewish charity in Hendon. A drone was also flown near the Israeli embassy, and a petrol bomb was thrown towards the site of Volant Media, parent company of Persian news channel Iran International.
Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said 'thugs for hire' are risking long prison sentences for small amounts of money if they agree to carry out crimes for foreign states. He cited the case of Dylan Earl, jailed for 17 years for an arson plot linked to the Russian-backed Wagner group.
