Netherlands probing if Rotterdam synagogue attack has Iran link, minister says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel speaking to the media before a diplomatic conference in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Dec 16.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- The Netherlands is investigating potential Iranian involvement in the Rotterdam synagogue attack on March 13, according to Justice Minister David van Weel.
- Four suspects, aged 17-19, were arrested after the arson attack on the Rotterdam synagogue, which prosecutors are treating as a terrorist act.
- Recent attacks on Jewish sites in the Netherlands and Belgium, claimed by an extremist group on X, have led to heightened security measures.
AI generated
AMSTERDAM - The Netherlands is investigating whether Iran was involved in the attack on a Rotterdam synagogue on March 13, Justice Minister David van Weel has said, adding that the suspects apprehended for the attack had most likely been recruited.
“The possibility that Iran is involved in this attack is... being explicitly investigated”, Mr van Weel told parliament on March 17, though he did not cite a conclusive link between Iran and the attack ahead of the investigation’s conclusions.
Dutch prosecutors said on March 16 that the four men suspected of causing the Rotterdam synagogue explosion had done so with terrorist intent.
The four, aged 17 to 19, were apprehended shortly after an arson attack caused a fire at the synagogue early on March 13.
In the past week, several attacks have taken place in the Netherlands, including one on a Jewish school in Amsterdam. There has also been an attack on a synagogue in Liege, in neighbouring Belgium.
The attacks, which caused no injuries, were all claimed on social media platform X by an extremist group, though police are still investigating whether the group was actually behind them.
Mr van Weel previously said that a link between the explosions in Amsterdam and Rotterdam could not be excluded, but did not confirm any claims made on social media.
The attacks have triggered heightened security at Jewish sites in the Netherlands.
Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world have risen following US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the subsequent response from Tehran. REUTERS
