Middle East: No more Mr Nice Guy!

By Richard North - April 30, 2026

At times, it seems perverse writing about a distant conflict when, to all intents and purposes, we have a low-grade war in progress on the streets of London and elsewhere, right under our very noses.

However, so well-covered by the legacy media are the latest attacks on Jewish men in Golders Green that there is very little that I can add, except to note that Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) – which translates as the “Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand” – an Iranian-linked Islamist group, has claimed responsibility for the stabbings.

Even if any link is tenuous – and opportunistic on the part of a group which may have had nothing at all to do with the attacks – the Guardian reports, its claims have been a feature of a spate of arson and attempted arson attacks targeting the Jewish community over the last month or so in north London.

This includes the setting on fire of the four Jewish community ambulances, operated by the charity Hatzola, in Golders Green in the early hours of 23 March, where there are suspicions that the three men and a 17-year-old youth – all of Pakistani heritage – were paid by Iranian agents.

The group has also claimed responsibility for attacks on Jewish sites in Europe, starting with an attack on a synagogue in Liège, Belgium on 9 March. An improvised explosive detonated at 4am, shattering windows, but causing no injuries.

Other claims followed elsewhere in Europe, says the Guardian. One followed an arson attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on 13 March, in which four people were arrested; another came after an explosion outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam, a day later. No injuries were reported.

According to the paper, investigators’ lead hypothesis is that there is a degree of Iranian state direction behind HAYI, and the search for evidence continues.

In the case of the Rotterdam and Jewish school attacks, the claims were made promptly after attacks that took place in the middle of the night, but other claims are considered to be disinformation or hoaxes.

On the other hand, HAYI may not exist in its own right. It began life as an on-line entity, posting on an account on Telegram with a modest 200 followers in March. It then disappeared later that month before reappearing under a different name.

This has led to a working assumption that HAYI is a cutout, a front for an Iranian state agency, whether Iran’s Revolutionary Guard or the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, seeking to stoke fear in European Jewish communities.

When it comes to the latest Golders Green incident, this has been analysed by the group Tech Against Terrorism which suggests that HAYI’s claim “represents a significant escalation” in operational messaging.

“By claiming an incident involving physical casualties, HAYI is signalling willingness to associate its brand with direct violence, even if the group did not direct, enable, or have prior knowledge of the attack”, a report from the group concludes.

According to The Times the Israeli government said that it has evidence that it is linked to the IRGC and is tasked with carrying out attacks in Europe.

Its credibility for the early attacks appeared more genuine than for more recent incidents because it posted video on the social media platform Telegram, revealing knowledge of the attacks and was often the original source of information.

Nevertheless, Iranian involvement in this current attack cannot be entirely ruled out. Only a couple of days ago, Iran’s ambassador to the UK was being investigated by counterterror police after the embassy in London had used a social media post to encourage regime supporters living in Britain to sign up to a martyrdom programme.

The Foreign Office summoned the ambassador for a “chat” after what is described as the “unacceptable and inflammatory” message, which – we are told – prompted suggestions that it was encouraging violence on British streets.

In relation to this incident, The Times explored possible Iranian links with UK violence, suggesting (as has the Guardian) that there is “growing evidence” that Iran has been involved in recent attacks against the Jewish community in the UK, as well as against Iranian dissidents.

The paper identifies the IRGC as having orchestrated many of the attacks through proxies, not least because the Iranian government recently launched a controversial campaign called Jan Fada (Sacrifice Life for the Homeland), urging members of the Iranian diaspora to register through an official portal to express their readiness for the “popular defence” of Iran.

Security experts and diaspora activists have warned that this is an overt attempt to radicalise individuals on foreign soil and identify regime sympathisers who could be mobilised for hostile acts or sleeper cell activities.

Latterly, Starmer – with all the speed of a sloth which has overdosed on sleeping pills – has announced that he will move to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation “within weeks”. If that happens, this will be in the next session of parliament which begins after the local elections, with the king’s speech.

Such has been the delay that last month a group of former intelligence chiefs attacked the prime minister for failing to take action.

In what was described as “a rare breach of convention”, retired directors from MI6, MI5 and GCHQ came forward to express their alarm about the “Government’s continued reluctance” to ban the IRGC. The group said that proscription was a “necessary step” to curb the organisation’s activity in the UK and signal that Britain was “prepared to defend its own security and democratic institutions”.

They acknowledged that “speaking publicly is not the norm for our profession”, but said they “now feel compelled to act”, stating that “Iranian state actors and their proxies are already active inside the UK”.

It was noted at the time that Starmer had supported a ban while in opposition but, in government, he was advised it was legally challenging to ban organisations that are arms of a state. One senses the hand of Lord Hermer at work here.

But if that was a problem then, it must be even more so now as news from Iran suggest that the IRGC, led by Ahmad Vahidi, has seized complete control of power and announced the formation of a “Military Council” to manage the state, thereby eliminating any role for politicians.

This has been reported by Reuters which confirms that “real power” in Iran has moved away from the supreme leader (assuming he is still alive), with the wartime leadership centred on the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). Vahidi has been identified by a Pakistani and two Iranian sources as Iran’s “pivotal figure”,

Effectively, that means that Iran is being governed by a body which the UK may be about to designate as a terrorist organisation, joining no fewer than 34 “entities” including the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, and the European Union (which, of course, represents 27 member states).

Whether Starmer can rouse himself to do the necessary remains to be seen. That we have a state-level terrorist organisation apparently organising murder and mayhem on British streets hasn’t been enough yet to spur him into action. But then, this cannot be terribly important to him if he thinks that getting rid of this regime is not our concern, as the conflict in the Middle East is “not our war”.

Fortunately, there is someone who disagrees (pictured). And he has instructed his aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran.

In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options – resume bombing or walk away from the conflict – carried more risk than maintaining the blockade.

Like him or loathe him, Trump is doing more for the British people than the British prime minister.