Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
Countries in Europe will strengthen security to protect Jewish sites after Iranian-linked attacks in cities including Paris, London and Amsterdam.
Five suspects, including a minor police say was recruited on Snapchat, are being questioned after a foiled bomb attack on the Bank of America’s office in the French capital.
The incident comes after a suspected arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish group in London last weekend. Harakat Ashab Al Yamin Al Islamia, or the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right Hand, claimed responsibility. The group is widely regarded as being a front for Iran-directed attempts to destabilise Europe.
There was also an explosion at a Jewish school in Amsterdam this month, while synagogues in Rotterdam and Liege were the targets of attacks involving explosive devices.
In response to the growing threats, authorities in the UK and France are to enhance security around potential Jewish targets, while soldiers will continue patrols at the synagogue in Liege.
Alexandre Rodde, a terrorism and mass casualty incident analyst, said the risk could be greater with Passover set to begin. “Adding to the risk is the situation we had since the start of the Iranian war, with a number of local actors committing act of arson and setting of IEDs [improvised explosive devices],” he told The National.
“So those two situations at the moment also make it obviously more riskier than usual in the coming week. There’s a concern among security services about those two types of potential violence against people and symbolic targets, especially Jewish targets.”
The European attacks follow the killing of 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney in December.
“We always need to be careful when there is a religious celebration, because it's always kind of a symbolic target and it brings more attention to the subject," Mr Rodde said. “Terrorists are aware of that. We haven't seen a lot of mass casualty event in the West in the past few months, except for what happened in Sydney back in December.
“Local actors with an international agenda could decide to target a Jewish celebration or Jewish gathering during that time. That's a possibility."
French authorities will maintain security around US, Israeli, Jewish and Iranian opposition sites, said Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. He has called on local officials, police and the gendarmerie to show "extreme vigilance" to ensure the security of places of worship during Passover, which this year coincides with Easter.
Mr Nunez stressed that those celebrations were to take place amid a "very clear resurgence of tensions at the international level". He urged security forces to "pay particular attention to services and gatherings which concentrate large crowds in certain places and at certain times”.
The UK will also increase security and police in London have put a plan in place to protect synagogues, schools and other potential targets around Passover.
Drones, armed response units and plainclothes operatives trained to spot suspicious behaviour will all be used as part of heightened security operations. More than 260 additional officers will be part of the effort.
Police patrols are being increased in Manchester for Passover, where two worshippers were killed in a car-ramming and knife attack last year on Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar.
