Boy, 17, and man, 19, detained as Met says it is investigating claims a series of antisemitic attacks are linked to Iran
Two teenagers have been arrested over an arson attack at a synagogue in north-west London over the weekend, the Met police have said.
Matt Jukes, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said a 17-year-old boy and 19-year-old man had been detained, as he confirmed officers were investigating claims a series of antisemitic attacks in the UK were linked to Iranian-backed proxies.
“We’ve made, over the last weeks, 15 arrests in relation to a series of six incidents that have targeted Jewish premises, the Jewish-led ambulance service and a Persian media organisation,” Jukes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.
He said claimed links to Iran were a “very serious line of inquiry”. “We’ve seen a pattern … people taking cash as it looks like quick and easy money. Teams I led have put in prison individuals like Dylan Earl, who is serving a 17-year prison sentence for acting on behalf of the Wagner Group; in that case, Russian connected. But this is part of the modern hybrid war fought by proxies.”
