Illustrative: A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect

A man armed with two knives who tried to enter the grounds of Israel‘s London embassy was carrying a “martyrdom note” and told police he wanted to send a message to end the war in Gaza, prosecutors said after charging him with a terrorism offence.

Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 33, appeared in the dock at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, having been charged with preparation of a terrorist act and two counts of possession of a bladed article.

He is accused of having attempted to gain unauthorized access to the grounds of the embassy in West London on Monday evening.

Prosecutor Kristel Pous said Albadri had been seen by police trying to scale a wall outside the embassy on April 28.

Albadri was carrying what Pous described as a martyrdom note, without giving further details. She said Albadri had told police officers he wanted to “do something to send a message to the Israeli government to stop the war” in Gaza.

Judge Tan Ikram remanded Albadri in custody ahead of a hearing on May 7, to give prosecutors the chance to get the Attorney General’s consent to proceed with the terrorism charge.

“We remain in close contact with those based at the Embassy of Israel and we appreciate that these charges will be concerning to them,” Commander Dominic Murphy, head of London police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said in an earlier statement.

“I would like to reassure the public, however, that from our enquiries so far, we are not seeking anyone else in connection with this matter and we do not believe there is any wider threat to the public.”

The Israeli embassy said in a statement that British security forces had prevented “an attempted terror attack” from a man armed with a knife, and no staff or visitors had been injured.

“We thank the British security forces for their immediate response and ongoing efforts to secure the embassy,” the statement posted on X said.

“The embassy of Israel will not be deterred by any terror threat and will continue to represent Israel with pride in the UK.”

The Community Security Trust, which provides safety advice to Britain’s Jewish communities, said it was speaking to police but was not aware of any related threats.

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Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS

Iran will hold talks in Rome on Friday with European parties to their now moribund 2015 nuclear deal, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, as both sides seek to position themselves ahead of a new round of US-Iranian negotiations on Saturday.

Reuters reported on Monday that Tehran had proposed meeting Britain, France, and Germany, collectively known as the E3, who stuck to the 2015 deal meant to curb Iran‘s nuclear activity, which unraveled in 2018 when US President Donald Trump walked out of it during his first term in the White House.

“In my opinion, the three European countries have lost their role [in the nuclear file] due to the wrong policies they have adopted. Of course, we do not want this and are ready to hold talks with them in Rome,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state media on Wednesday.

There was initial hesitation within the E3 over concern such talks could create a parallel track and hijack the negotiations pursued by Trump’s second administration that Washington says aim to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.

But three European diplomats told Reuters that the E3 decided it was ultimately in their interest to maintain dialogue with Iran and reaffirm how they envisaged the parameters of a new nuclear deal.

Foreign ministry political directors were meeting US officials in Berlin on Wednesday to be briefed on previous rounds of US-Iranian talks and prepare for the Rome meeting, and will head there on Friday, two diplomats said.

Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration that resumed in Oman on Saturday and after its talks with Russia and China last week. US and Iranian negotiators will reconvene in Rome on Saturday.

Iran‘s approach to the E3 suggests it is keeping its options open but also wants to assess where the Europeans stand on the possible reimposition of United Nations sanctions against Tehran before October, known in diplomatic circles as the “snapback mechanism,” when a resolution ratifying the 2015 accord expires.

EUROPEAN–IRANIAN TENSIONS

Relations between the E3 and Iran have worsened over the last year despite sporadic meetings since last September against a backdrop of new sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic over its ballistic missile program, its detention of foreign citizens, and support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Highlighting those tensions, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that Paris would not think twice if the current negotiations failed about launching the snapback of sanctions, which he said would have “devastating effects.”

He accused Tehran of being on the cusp of covertly developing a nuclear weapon. Iran has long denied this, saying its accelerating uranium enrichment program is only for civilian energy purposes.

In a letter distributed to the UN Security Council and seen by Reuters, Iran‘s permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said Barrot’s comments were “unfounded and politically irresponsible.”

He said that applying the snapback would be “legally and procedurally flawed, inadmissible, and invalid.”

“[Barrot’s] open threat to reimpose sanctions with ‘devastating effects’ on Iran’s economy constitutes a blatant act of political and economic coercion,” the letter said.

On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on what it described as a network based in Iran and China suspected of procuring ballistic missile propellant ingredients for Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Araqchi said the fresh US sanctions during negotiations sent the “wrong message.”

Trump has said he is confident of clinching a new pact that would block Iran‘s path to nuclear bomb capability.

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Armed Druze men stand at a checkpoint in Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, Syria, April 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

Israel said it carried out a strike in Syria against extremists who attacked members of the Druze community, following through on a promise to protect the minority group as sectarian violence spread near Damascus on Wednesday.

It appeared to be Israel‘s first military action in support of Syrian Druze since Bashar al-Assad was toppled, reflecting its deep mistrust of the Sunni Islamists who replaced him and posing a further challenge to interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s efforts to establish control over the fractured nation.

A Syrian Interior Ministry source told Reuters Israeli drone strikes targeted government security forces, killing one of their members, in the mainly Druze town of Sahnaya on Damascus’ outskirts. The Druze adhere to a faith that is an offshoot of Islam and have followers in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military had carried out “a warning operation and struck an extremist group” as it prepared to continue an attack on Druze in Sahnaya.

“At the same time, a message was passed on to the Syrian regime – Israel expects it to act in order to prevent harm to the Druze,” they said.

Since Assad was ousted in December, Israel has seized ground in the southwest, vowed to protect the Druze, lobbied Washington to keep the neighboring state weak, and blown up much of the Syrian army’s heavy weapons in the days after he was toppled.

Sharaa, who was an al Qaeda commander before renouncing ties to the group in 2016, has repeatedly vowed to govern Syria in an inclusive way. But incidents of sectarian violence, including the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now dominant Islamists.

The sectarian violence began on Tuesday with clashes between Druze and Sunni gunmen in the predominantly Druze area of Jaramana. It was ignited by a voice recording cursing the Prophet Mohammad and which the Sunni militants suspected was made by a Druze. More than a dozen people were reported killed on Tuesday, before the violence spread to Sahnaya on Wednesday.

In a statement on state news agency SANA, the director of security for the Damascus countryside said a ceasefire was reached in Jaramana but outlaws had escalated attacks in the Sahnaya area on Wednesday, killing 16 members of the security forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on conflict in Syria, said at least 22 people were killed in Sahnaya – six Druze fighters and 16 members of government security forces or fighters aligned with them.

‘EXTREME PANIC AND FEAR’

The Interior Ministry has said it is investigating the origin of the audio recording.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Osama al-Rifai, appointed Syria‘s top Muslim cleric in March, said in a recorded statement that the spilling of any Syrian blood was forbidden.

Residents of Sahnaya reported intense street fighting throughout Wednesday. “We’re in extreme panic and fear because of the indiscriminate shelling, which is forcing most of us to stay totally shuttered inside our homes,” said Elias Hanna, who lives on the edge of Sahnaya.

“We’re worried that the massacres of the coast will repeat themselves near Sahnaya against the Druze,” he said.

Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy to Syria, is “deeply concerned” by violence in the country, especially in suburbs of the capital Damascus and in Homs,” the United Nations said.

He called for immediate measures to ensure the protection of civilians, and prevent incitement of communal tensions.

The new Islamist-led leadership in Damascus has called for all arms to fall under their authority, but Druze fighters have resisted, saying Damascus has failed to guarantee their protection from hostile militants.

The Israeli government reiterated its pledge to defend Syrian Druze in March after the attacks on Alawites – bloodshed that was sparked by deadly attacks on government security forces and blamed by the Islamist authorities on Assad loyalists.

Israel has a small Druze community and there are also some 24,000 Druze living in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day war. Israel annexed the territory in 1981, a move that has been recognized by the US but not most countries.

The spiritual leader of Druze in Israel, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, said late on Tuesday he was “closely monitoring” developments in Syria and had discussed them with Israel‘s defense minister.

Israel struck Syria regularly when it was governed by Assad, seeking to curb the role of his ally Iran.

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