The Grayzone on Substack on the recent bombings in Europe.
Claims that an Iran-backed group is carrying out attacks in European cities raise questions about why they’re not targeting countries directly involved in the US-Israeli war, and why they appear to communicate like Israelis. Strangely, suspects arrested in the attacks have been released on bail.
thegrayzone.substack.com
By Wyatt Reed Mar 28, 2026 The Grayzone
Claims that an Iran-backed group is carrying out attacks in European cities raise questions about why they’re not targeting countries directly involved in the US-Israeli war, and why they appear to communicate like Israelis.
Strangely, suspects arrested in the attacks have been released on bail.
A specter is haunting Europe – the specter of Ashab al-Yamin. Officially known as “Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI),” or the “Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right,” the group mysteriously appeared in early March, and, according to mainstream media, it’s taking the continent by storm.
But a closer look at the supposedly Iran-backed terror organization suggests that it does not exist in any concrete form, and may be a confection of Israeli intelligence.
Though the nebulous HAYI claimed credit for torching ambulances belonging to a Jewish community organization in London on March 23, two suspects in the attack have been
released on bail, and are not charged with any terror-related crimes. What’s more, London Metropolitan Police have so far refused to release the men’s names, raising questions about their identities. Were they even Muslim?
HAYI’s first public mention in the West came on March 11, when the previously non-existent organization released a video showing an explosive device detonating outside a synagogue in Liege, Belgium, alongside a statement taking credit for the attack.
The materials were circulated on social media by Joe Truzman, a self-described “Senior Research analyst examining Palestinian armed groups and Iranian proxy organizations” at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative DC-based think tank founded in 2001 with the stated goal of working to “enhance Israel’s image.” As The Grayzone
reported, the Trump White House plagiarized its public justification for attacking Iran word-for-word from an FDD paper.
Though Truzman declined to state where he’d found the materials, he wrote that “Telegram channels linked to the Axis of Resistance… widely disseminated the publications,” using a reference to a variety of resistance factions sympathetic to Iran and Palestine throughout the greater Middle East. The group he linked to, a popular Telegram channel called Sabereen News,
made it clear they were reposting the video, which they said was the work of a group calling themselves “the companions.”
Almost immediately, Truzman began asserting that these “companions” were all but guaranteed to be a Tehran-linked cutout. For starters, he told British media, “their logo with the wording is a sign of a classic Iranian front organization.” And Iran had already threatened to carry out just such a wave of attacks, Truzman claimed. After all,
he wrote, “On March 8, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s deputy-foreign minister, warned that if a European country joined the US and Israel in the current war against the Islamic Republic, it would be a ‘legitimate’ target ‘for Iranian retaliation.’”
Over the next two weeks, the shadowy group would go on to take credit for burning a vehicle in a Jewish neighborhood in Antwerp, arson at a synagogue in Rotterdam, explosions near a Jewish school and financial office building in Amsterdam, firebombing Jewish-dedicated ambulances in London, and an unspecified attack in Greece.
So far, the only media outlet to have
interviewed a member of HAYI is CBS News, which was recently purchased by David Ellison, the ultra-Zionist billionaire son of the largest
individual donor to Israel’s military, Larry Ellison, who happens to be a close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bari Weiss, the editor-in-chief installed by Ellison at CBS, is a self-described
“Zionist fanatic.”
Perfectly timed to set off another wave of security state theatrics and hysteria over rising antisemitism and Iranian infiltration, Israeli assets leaped on the narrative that a trans-continental IRGC sleeper cell had been unleashed upon the Old World. Yossi Kuperwasser, the former head of the IDF’s intelligence research division, was
quoted in one British outlet as confirming that Iran “has dormant cells that could try and carry out terror attacks.” He added, “they are probably working to wake them up now.”
For those with their critical faculties still intact, the strange wave of attacks raised red flags – and acute suspicions of false flags.
Cui bono?
Among the oddest qualities of the attacks supposedly carried out by HAYI were the targets. The countries in which the attacks occurred did not correspond with those Iran would likely single out for retaliation.
Belgium, the second-most targeted country, has explicitly and repeatedly
ruled out joining the US-Israeli war, which it describes as contrary to international law. Most of the strange explosions have been concentrated in the Netherlands, which sent a single frigate to the eastern Mediterranean. However, its involvement pales in comparison to a country like France, which has not been hit by HAYI once despite sending an aircraft carrier and several other military assets.
Strikes by Iran on these countries would therefore serve little political purpose. After all, if the attackers hoped to deter states from further involvement in the war, they would likely focus on the leading European participants, such as France, Britain, and Italy. Yet just one of those countries has experienced a purported HAYI attack, and only on a single occasion.
The actions by various European police agencies do not match up with the details of the alleged crimes, either. Following an attack on Hatzalah Jewish charity ambulances in London on March 23, police simply allowed the perpetrators to walk free on bail, demonstrating a level of leniency unlikely to be extended to a suspected Iranian spy. For Hatzalah, the incident was a blessing in disguise; the British government has since pledged to replace their damaged ambulances with four brand-new vehicles for free, and the organization has already exploited the situation to rake in over 2 million pounds in donations.
At the time of publication, London Metropolitan Police have yet to release the names of the two suspects in the attack, and the British press has seemingly moved on from the incident.
On the same evening as the ambulance attack in London, two minors were arrested for burning a car in Antwerp, Belgium. Though the crime occurred in a Jewish neighborhood, the victim was reported to be a Moroccan woman named Fatia. Her vehicle, she told a Belgian outlet, had been the subject of a smash-and-grab by vandals who wanted the jewels she’d been keeping in the car.
“Whether they were actually targeting Jewish people doesn’t matter,” she stated.
For many experts, HAYI’s written messages raised serious questions as well. As a Dutch professor who specializes in transnational militant Shiite groups
told a national outlet, “The fact that this group clearly cannot read or write Arabic fluently like a native speaker means that I do not entirely regard them as a seriously organized radicalized sleeper cell.”
In the group’s materials, the logo changes significantly from one message to another, strongly suggesting they were hastily created with AI. The communiques also contain highly questionable language, beginning with a March 20th
statement which referenced the “nation of Israel.” A post several days later claiming credit for burning ambulances in London referred four times in English and Arabic to “Israel” or “the Land of Israel.” The Hebrew translation of the statement raised even more questions, as it referred to a rabbi’s move to the country as “making aliyah to the Land of Israel” – a phrase employed almost exclusively by Zionists.

Official Iranian broadcasts, like those of virtually every Islamic resistance group on the planet, generally refrain from using such language, which they view as legitimizing the apartheid state, and they tend to prefer terms like “Zionist regime” and “occupied Palestine” instead. The language used in the communique by the supposed Iran-linked group is far more characteristic of Israeli speech patterns.
From Iraq to Australia, Israel’s dark record raises questions
There is, of course, an alternative explanation for why someone would want to carry out a series of low-impact, relatively harmless bombings of Jewish sites. The same strategy was allegedly employed by Zionist spies in Iraq in the early 1950s following Israel’s creation, when at least five bombings targeting Jewish locations were carried out. Israeli historian Avi Shlaim later uncovered extensive evidence that Israeli intelligence perpetrated a majority of the attacks in an effort to encourage a Jewish exodus to Israel.
Yaakov Karkoukli, a member of the Iraqi Zionist underground who worked closely with convicted Israeli spy Yusef Basri at the time, told Shlaim that this was a deliberate strategy “to terrorize and not to kill” Jews in the region and force their resettlement.
If that was the case, the strategy worked to perfection. Within several years, over 95% of Iraq’s Jews had
migrated.
There’s a major possibility a similar plan was set in motion in Australia much more recently. When a wave of attacks on Jewish communities quickly followed Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state in 2025, the media there immediately pinned the blame on Iran. This belief, it turned out, was also based on Israeli influence.
As The Grayzone
reported at the time, Australia’s Sky News revealed that Israel originally provided Australia’s intelligence agency, ASIO, with a “tip off, or lead, in relation to one of the firebombings,” which indicated that a spate of attacks “was orchestrated by Iran.”
In December, when a pair of ISIS sympathizers attacked a Hanukkah ceremony on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
immediately blamed an unspecified “Iranian-backed foreign terror cell,” prompting Canberra to expel Iran’s ambassador. He also
singled out Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, accusing him of inspiring the attack by recognizing a Palestinian state.
Two months later, Israeli President Isaac Herzog flew into Canberra to promote Israel’s planned assault on Iran. During his trip, Herzog held an unprecedented
secret meeting with ASIO Director General Mike Burgess.
“The president met with the Director-General of Security, and was briefed by ASIO’s counter-terrorism team on their work following the Bondi attack,” an ASIO spokesperson claimed after the meeting was revealed.
‘No dreams, no joy’: Iranians struggle amid war, economic collapse, regime controls
By
AgenciesToday, 3:41 pm
Civilians describe explosions, internet blackout, deteriorating businesses as trauma of conflict comes on top of January crackdown; concern a US deal could entrench regime ‘on steroids’
CAIRO — Iranians were already reeling from a shattered economy and the mass killing of protesters when the first US and Israeli bombs targeting the regime slammed into Tehran a month ago.
Now they are struggling to get by through a war with no end in sight, wrestling with lost livelihoods, damage to homes and the stress of explosions. Many wonder where it is leading — to the destruction of their homeland, the chaotic fall of the Iranian regime or its survival, wounded but more extreme.
“I think we’ve experienced everything bad possible,” said a 26-year-old designer in Tehran, “from the terrible atmosphere of January and the killings and arrests to the war.”
Daily explosions, near and far and unpredictable, shake and damage homes. Businesses are struggling. An unprecedented internet blackout since January has largely cut people off from the outside world and made communication within Iran more difficult.
The trauma of war comes on top of the shock from January, when hundreds of thousands across Iran marched in the biggest protests against the regime in decades — only to be met by security forces opening fire, killing thousands. Tens of thousands were detained, and arrests have continued.
CAIRO — Iranians were already reeling from a shattered economy and the mass killing of protesters when the first US and Israeli bombs targeting the regime slammed into Tehran a month ago.
Now they are struggling to get by through a war with no end in sight, wrestling with lost livelihoods, damage to homes and the stress of explosions. Many wonder where it is leading — to the destruction of their homeland, the chaotic fall of the Iranian regime or its survival, wounded but more extreme.
“I think we’ve experienced everything bad possible,” said a 26-year-old designer in Tehran, “from the terrible atmosphere of January and the killings and arrests to the war.”
Daily explosions, near and far and unpredictable, shake and damage homes. Businesses are struggling. An unprecedented internet blackout since January has largely cut people off from the outside world and made communication within Iran more difficult.
The trauma of war comes on top of the shock from January, when hundreds of thousands across Iran marched in the biggest protests against the regime in decades — only to be met by security forces opening fire, killing thousands. Tens of thousands were detained, and arrests have continued.
The AP spoke to 10 people across Iran, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for their security.
Businesses crumbling
The designer, who runs a factory with a partner that makes leather fashion products, said her business was on the verge of closing.
“When the economy gets bad, nonessential goods are the first thing to be removed from the shopping cart,” she said. Much of her sales are online, and the internet blackout practically reduced “the small sales to zero.”
Since the January protests, she has had to live off her meager savings, and the violence of the crackdown upset her so much that she has not been able to return to work.
When the war began on February 28, she moved to her parents’ house. A few days later, the blast from a nearby strike damaged her apartment that she had just left. Like most Iranians, she doesn’t have home insurance, so she will have to pay for repairs herself.
She only leaves her parents’ house to buy necessities.
Trying to track strikes
The terrifying cadence of airstrikes shapes daily life in Tehran.
An engineer living in Tehran tries to find a pattern in strikes – are certain times safer? Recent nights saw explosions light up the skies. One evening, a blast shook his home as he had guests over. They climbed up on the roof and tried in vain to figure out where it hit.
“We didn’t see any visible fire,” he said.
He thinks the strikes are less frequent now, or maybe “our perception of it has changed,” as everyone gets used to bombings.
He feels anxious when family or friends go out on the streets, and struggles to sleep. He had a job offer before the war, but does not know if it is still there. Soon, he says, many will struggle with rent and bills.
Government workers, who make up a large part of the workforce, are still getting salaries. But private businesses are struggling to pay employees as they close for days on end or reduce hours.
The collapse of Iran’s currency, largely caused by US and international sanctions over its nuclear program, triggered the protests late last year. They then became wider demonstrations against the regime.
US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. After Trump returned to the White House for his second term in 2025, he restarted his so-called maximum pressure campaign targeting Tehran with sanctions. He again went after firms trading Iranian crude oil, including those selling at a discount in China.
Widespread UN sanctions against Iran also returned into force last September for the first time in a decade, after last-ditch nuclear talks with Western powers failed to produce a breakthrough.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.
Strained resources in the relatively unscathed north
Many Iranians have fled to the north, which has been relatively unscathed. One of the main cities, Rasht, has been packed with Iranians who fled from Tehran and elsewhere, straining local resources.
A doctor at a pediatric hospital said the number of patients has nearly doubled. It was unclear whether the larger number of those seeking help was a result of strikes.
Medicines are running out, he said, and patients now are asked to buy some basic supplies, including antibiotics or IV fluids, from the market.
The internet blackout is affecting his ability to access his patients’ history and check correct dosages online, he said. It has also forced the doctor to set aside his own personal effort to document the casualty toll from the January crackdown because witnesses are unreachable and the online database is inaccessible.
He plays video games or watches television to pass the time. In a week-old binge, he is five seasons into “The Walking Dead,” the American postapocalyptic horror drama series.
Anxiety over the future
Throughout, Iranians have been wrestling with widely mixed feelings over the war, the ruling regime and the future.
Authorities continue to organize pro-government street rallies, aiming to show public support. The feared paramilitary Basij, charged with internal security, has stepped up patrols even as it is targeted in airstrikes.
The engineer said decades of misrule have been hard on Iranians. But he said that doesn’t justify the US-Israeli attacks. He was angered by the deaths and the damage to infrastructure and military capacities.
He’s trying to channel that anger into determination to rebuild. “I’m going to be stronger after this war. I will be damaged, just like my country. But that’s it. This is life. We’re going to make it better.”
At the start of the war, Trump called on Iranians to overthrow their leaders. Now, he says he is negotiating with senior Iranian officials who he claims are “begging” for a deal, without naming them. Iran has denied that any such talks are underway.
Some Iranians fear the war will leave behind a wounded but even more oppressive Islamic Republic.
One woman in her 40s said she feared negotiations more than war. “This is what our situation has come to — we are willing to endure war in the hope of being freed from them,” she said.
The doctor in Rasht said he viewed the war as “the last remaining option” for getting rid of the ruling clerics. But he fears the way that the US and Israel are conducting it. If the US strikes a deal now, he said, it would only entrench the regime.
“We now have the Islamic Republic on steroids,” he said. “We are afraid they will take this revenge out on the people, which they very openly see as the enemy from inside.”
In southwestern Iran, a lawyer who has represented detainees and women’s rights defenders — and has herself been imprisoned — spoke to the AP earlier in the war, saying she dreamed of the day the Islamic Republic would crumble. She spoke about the power of collective action and self-determination.
After a month of bombings, she seemed more introspective, taciturn, exhausted by isolation and uncertainty.
“There is no sign of hope, no dreams, no joy,” she said. “Worry about the future has taken over.”
One month after US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the conflict has escalated across the Middle East.
www.aljazeera.com
Video
“No Kings” Protests Sweep US | Americans Rally Against Trump, War & Immigration Policies
Mar 28, 2026
Thousands of Americans took to the streets across all 50 states in a wave of “No Kings” protests, challenging the policies of Donald Trump.
From Washington DC to Los Angeles and Minnesota, demonstrators voiced concerns over expanding presidential powers, strict immigration crackdowns, and the ongoing war with Iran.
Protesters argue that key decisions — including military action — are being made without proper congressional approval, raising serious questions about the rule of law and democratic accountability.With rising living costs, fuel prices, and growing political tensions ahead of upcoming elections, these protests highlight mounting pressure on the administration.Is this a turning point in U.S. politics?
And how will these demonstrations shape the future balance of power in Washington?