British police said Thursday they had arrested three men in connection with an attempted arson attack on the offices of a Persian-language media organization in northwest London.
A burning container was thrown towards the premises of an unnamed media outlet in Wembley on Wednesday evening, ending up in a car park where the fire extinguished itself. The police stated that there was no material damage and that there were no injuries.
Officers later followed a black car in which the suspects allegedly fled the scene, and the vehicle then crashed.
Two men, aged 19 and 21, and a 16-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of arson and are being held in police custody. Although the arson attempt is not being treated as a terrorist attack, anti-terrorist officers are also involved in the investigation.
The incident comes a day after police arrested two people in connection with a separate attempted arson attack at a synagogue, also in north London, although police are not linking the two cases at this stage.
Last month, several ambulances of the Jewish volunteer Hatzola emergency service were set on fire, parked near a synagogue in the Golders Green area of north London.
British authorities have previously warned of threats against journalists working for Persian media critical of the Iranian government. In 2024, a journalist for the Iran International television network was stabbed in the leg near his home in south London.
The head of Britain’s MI5 intelligence service said in October last year that the service and police had tracked more than 20 plots linked to Iran, aimed at kidnapping or killing British nationals or people in Britain deemed a threat by Tehran.
(Vijesti.ba)
