Everything we know about Iranian sleeper cell terrorising Europe

They call themselves Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-islamia

Only hours after the attack, the group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), roughly translated as The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous, claimed the attack.

The organisation took responsibility for the attack in a video which emerged shortly after.

The video featured the group's logo - a fist holding an AK-47 over a red flag.

Despite this, it has not been fully proven that the group carried out the attack as police investigate the claim.

It is the latest of a number of bombings the group has claimed against Jewish targets in Belgium, Netherlands and Greece.

A message said that "the synagogue has become one of the main bastions of support for Israel in Britain" and highlighted a 2024 visit by former prime minister Rishi Sunak who expressed "his country’s unwavering support for Israel."

A series of attacks around Europe

HAYI has taken responsibly for a number of attacks in recent weeks, although none have proven to be fatal.

The first of these attacks came after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was detonated outside a synagogue in Liege, Belgium, on 9 March.

The building was damaged, but the "violent act of antisemitism" remained "only material", police said.

An attack in the Netherlands took place a week later, on 15 March, when an overnight blast damaged the only Orthodox school in the Netherlands in what was labelled a "deliberate attack against the Jewish community."

Meanwhile, earlier that same day, four men were arrested on suspicion of setting off an explosion outside a synagogue in Rotterdam. 

The IED caused damage to the building with the group claiming the target was a branch of the Bank of New York Mellon.

There were no fatalities reported in either attack.

The group issued a warning in a video which features the text: "In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.

"This is the final warning. To all the people of the world, especially in the European Union, immediately distance yourselves from all American and Zionist interests, facilities, and what is affiliated with them."

Another attack is claimed to have taken place in Greece on a Jewish-affiliated site, however, there is no proof any attack took place.

Finally, the attack yesterday in Golders Green, north London, has also been claimed by the group.

The expert take

One expert who has been montoring the group, Joe Truzman, has claimed the group could be an "Iran-crafted front".

The expert who works for the US think tank Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said: ‘I’m not surprised that we are seeing another attack, especially against a Jewish institution. We don’t know a lot about this organisation. It is certainly new.

"My suspicion is that we are observing an Iran-crafted front, meaning that this is an organisation that has been created by Iran, perhaps the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to carry out attacks specifically against Jewish institutions."

He added: "Their logo with the wording is a sign of a classic Iranian front organisation.

"What we have been seeing with almost all of these attacks is that they are going after symbols of either Israel or Jewish institutions.

"Here I think we are seeing a little bit of amateurism. I don’t think this is being done by a well-established organisation. I suspect that Iran is outsourcing these attacks to criminal organisations."

What now?

While little remains known about this sleeper cell / terror group, many nations in Europe have raised concerns of the presence of similar groups.

Extremism expert Heiko Heinisch told Euronews that he estimates "the risk of spontaneous single offence attacks and the activation of sleeper cells to be relatively high".

This said, for the time being, these attacks have not proven fatal and have taken place at anti-social hours.

However, it remains to be seen how far the group are willing to go in pursuit of radical ideology.