British police arrested two men Wednesday in connection with an arson attack on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in London. The Metropolitan Police said the men, aged 45 and 47, were arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and taken to a police station for questioning.

The incident occurred early Monday morning in Golders Green, a London neighborhood with a large Jewish population. Four ambulances belonging to the volunteer organization Hatzola Northwest were set on fire in what authorities are investigating as an antisemitic hate crime. Oxygen cylinders on the vehicles exploded during the blaze, breaking windows in an adjacent apartment block.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, called the arrests "an important breakthrough in the investigation." However, she noted that surveillance camera footage suggests three people were involved in the attack. Police have not declared the incident to be a terror attack but continue their investigation.

Authorities are examining a claim of responsibility posted on social media by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right. Israeli officials have described this as a recently founded group with suspected links to pro-Iran networks that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley said detectives are investigating the claim but stated it is too early to attribute the attack to the Iranian state. The investigation comes amid broader concerns about foreign-backed threats, with Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service reporting that more than 20 potentially lethal Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year leading to October.