Four Attacks. One Week. One Claimed Perpetrator — and Suspected Iranian Direction.

These antisemitic attacks, which targeted Jewish religious sites as well as a school in Amsterdam, are a stark reminder that Iranian-linked militias have sleeping cells operating in Europe — and in particular in the Netherlands and Belgium. A previously unknown terrorist organization with suspected links to Iran has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Jewish targets across Europe, raising alarms among security officials and Jewish communities on both sides of the Atlantic.

The group, calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya — “The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right” — claims it carried out four attacks over the past week: a synagogue explosion in Liège, Belgium; an arson attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam; a bombing at a Jewish school in Amsterdam; and an attack analysts believe is connected to a Jewish site in Greece. In each case the attacks were conducted in darkness, against unoccupied buildings, at the outer boundaries of the target — the hallmarks of an operation calibrated to maximize symbolic impact and fear while minimizing legal exposure in the event of early detection.

From “Amateurish” to “Organized”: What the Analysts Are Saying

Security experts have been careful to note that the attacks so far have been relatively unsophisticated — mostly carried out at night, targeting empty buildings, causing limited structural damage. But the trajectory of the group’s public communications tells a different story — one of a network growing in confidence, operational capacity, and media sophistication.

We Must Remember What the IRGC Has Already Done in the Netherlands

We should remember that the IRGC has previously targeted and killed opposition leaders in the Netherlands. In November 2017, Ahmad Mola Nissi — former President of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), a movement advocating for the rights of Arab Iranians — was shot dead outside his home in The Hague. He had sought asylum in the Netherlands after facing persecution in Iran. Dutch prosecutors linked the killing to an Iranian intelligence network. This was not the last such operation. It was one of many.

The IRGC’s operational presence in the Benelux is not theoretical. It is documented in court records, intelligence assessments, and the experiences of diaspora communities who have lived under its surveillance for years. What has changed is the targeting profile: from Iranian dissidents and Arab minority activists, the network now appears to be directing — or inspiring — attacks on Jewish institutions. The operational logic is the same. The ideological reach has expanded.

Governments Condemn — Embassies Issue Warnings — Jewish Leaders Demand Action

The Dutch and Belgian Authorities Must Act — Now, Decisively, and Durably

The Dutch and the Belgian authorities must protect Jewish communities and their religious sites to prevent future attacks. This is not a reactive demand. It is a baseline obligation — one that these governments have not yet met with the urgency the situation demands.

The pattern is clear. The intelligence is available. The IRGC’s presence in the Benelux is documented. What has been lacking is political will — the willingness to devote sustained resources to the protection of Jewish communities, to aggressively prosecute known IRGC-linked networks, and to communicate unambiguously to the Jewish community that the state stands between them and those who wish them harm.

The attack on a Jewish school is not merely an attack on a building. It is an attack on children — on the next generation of Jewish life in Europe, on the idea that Jewish families can raise their children in safety in the countries they call home. That this school was empty when the bomb went off is a matter of timing, not intent. The intent was to terrorize. The intent was to signal that nowhere is safe.