A section of central London has been closed off, with emergency services in “biohazard suits” seen investigating after an Iran-linked group claimed to have used drones to deliver “radioactive and carcinogenic materials” into the Israeli embassy.
Specialist officers combed Kensington Gardens, onto which the Israeli embassy backs, on Friday over “discarded items” found in the park overnight that came as an Iran-linked group claimed it had launched an attack. The park was closed to the public with “hazardous” signs hung on the shut iron gates, and officers from the Metropolitan Police Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) response team in “biohazard suits”, the Ambulance Service hazardous area team, and the London Fire Brigade were all at the scene, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Counter-terrorism police were also present and said they were aware of the publication, on Thursday night, of a video to social media by Iran-linked group Ashab al-Yamin that claimed to have launched “radioactive and carcinogenic materials” into the embassy using drones. Police said they didn’t believe there was a wider risk to the public and the newspaper cited sources close to the investigation who called the attempted incident against the embassy “amateurish”.
Both police and the embassy itself emphasised that the embassy had not been attacked, suggesting that if any attempt had been made in earnest, it had failed. Police said in their statement: “While we can confirm that the embassy has not been attacked, we are carrying out urgent enquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.”
The Associated Press noted police emphasised they did not believe there is “any increased public safety risk at this stage”, but they nevertheless told the public to avoid the area.
Ashab al-Yamin has claimed responsibility for several incidents, or attacks across London in recent weeks. But their claiming of incidents after they happened doesn’t prove they were responsible and as reported yesterday, police are probing whether they truly were behind them. The BBC stated on Thursday that Ashab al-Yamin, which in English could be called The Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, claimed attacks on synagogues and the burning of a group of Jewish charity ambulances, but that police hadn’t yet determined whether these were technically terror attacks.
Police also raised the possibility of the involvement of paid proxies, a technique already honed by Russia in its campaign of sabotage and espionage against European countries where career criminals and young unemployed people are offered generous cash payments for undertaking ‘jobs’, like arson against specified targets. Officers warned the public against being tempted to take on such work, and said in a statement: “Let me also be absolutely clear about this message. We have seen racist and antisemitic hate crimes, and without commenting on live cases, we know that some individuals are being persuaded or paid to act on behalf of foreign organisations and states.
“If you act out of hatred, racism or antisemitism, we will come after you and you will face the consequences. If you believe you can make quick and easy money by committing crimes for others, you will be shown to be wrong.”
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