Belgium Confirms Iran Orchestrated Attacks on Jewish Sites

Belgian authorities have officially confirmed that Iran was behind attacks targeting Jewish sites in the country six months ago. Gert Vercaeren, head of Belgium's Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA), stated on Thursday that bombings in March against a synagogue in Liege and a vehicle in Antwerp's Jewish quarter were carried out on Tehran's orders. This marks the first time Belgian officials have directly linked Iran to a wave of attacks against Jewish targets in Europe.

Vercaeren told RTBF that the perpetrators acted "with certainty" under Iranian direction, aiming to strike Jewish and Israeli locations globally. He emphasized that these were not isolated acts of vandalism but part of a coordinated campaign. The March incidents represented the peak of Iranian activity within Belgium, and no further attacks by the network have been recorded since a key suspect was arrested in Turkey.

The attacks included an explosive device detonated near the Liege synagogue on March 9 and a car fire in Antwerp's Jewish district about a week and a half later. No civilians were harmed in either incident. Vercaeren noted the investigation is cross-border, as the Belgian events occurred almost concurrently with terror plots in the Netherlands, including an attempted attack on a synagogue in the Dutch town of Hindeloopen.

Belgium's national threat level remains at "serious" (level 3 out of 4), unchanged since the October 2023 Brussels shooting. The Liege and Antwerp attacks occurred amidst a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across Europe following the outbreak of war in late February. An Iran-affiliated jihadist group, "As'hab al-Yamin al-Islamiya," has previously claimed responsibility for similar incidents, including arson at a Rotterdam synagogue and an attack on a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

Following the Liege attack, Belgium increased security measures, deploying soldiers alongside police around approximately 20 synagogues and four Jewish schools in Antwerp, home to a Jewish community of about 30,000 people.