Four young British men pleaded guilty on Friday to charges over an arson attack on community ambulances in London, the first of a spate of incidents targeting the UK's Jewish community earlier this year.
Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and Saif Ali, 18, appeared at London's Old Bailey court on Friday and admitted destroying or damaging property, being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
The torching of four ambulances belonging to Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzalah on March 23 while they were parked near a synagogue.
Prosecutors said at a previous hearing that web searches for "how much do ambulances cost" and "how long does it take for police to (investigate) arsons" were found on Iqbal's phone after his arrest.
A fifth defendant, 18-year-old Subhan Ahmed, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assisting an offender relating to the disposal of a vehicle used in the incident. He is expected to stand trial next year.
Prosecutors say the attack targeting Hatzalah, a not-for-profit volunteer service that works alongside Britain's National Health Service and primarily serves the Orthodox Jewish community, cost around £1 million ($1.36 million).
Pro-Iran terror group claimed responsibility for series of arson attacks
Several other attacks followed the March arson attack on the Hatzalah ambulances.
A synagogue and a former synagogue were targeted, as was Persian-language media organization Iran International and a memorial wall dedicated to people killed in Iran, in a series of incidents in April and May.
British police said at the time that they were investigating possible Iranian links to those arson attacks, with pro-Iranian terrorist group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya (HAYI) claiming responsibility for the ambulance attack and some others.
The SITE Intelligence website has said HAYI had been behind similar fires in Europe.