US prosecutors allege Iranian-linked agents planned attacks targeting London.
A New York indictment details alleged Iranian-linked plans targeting Jewish institutions and US interests, including a British air base.
European attack plots linked to Iranian agents targeted Jewish institutions and US interests, American prosecutors allege in a new indictment. The allegations include an April synagogue arson in London involving a 17-year-old.
The federal indictment, filed in New York this week, details a spring wave of violence in Europe. Prosecutors attribute the assaults to Iran’s agents during the US-Israel war in Iran.
American investigators say the attacks sought to pressure Iran’s adversaries into ending the bombing campaign against the country. Targets also included a British air base used by American bombers.
European attack plots centred on London
Prosecutors identify Iraqi national Mohammad Ali al-Hassani as a figure linked to Iranian criminal networks. They allege he supervised the London synagogue attack through a video call with the teenager.
During the call, al-Hassani urged the teenager to start the fire, prosecutors say. The teenager then climbed over a wall and threw a bomb through a broken window.
The alleged planning began within days of the war’s start, prosecutors say. Al-Hassani worked with at least two associates, including an operative for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The men also discussed obtaining drones and missiles through contacts in Iran, the indictment alleges. While studying a London map, one urged the group to concentrate on the British capital.
Attacks on temples and other Jewish sites in London followed soon afterwards, prosecutors say. The indictment connects those assaults to the wider alleged campaign against European and US targets.
