Iman Zand has admitted two explosives offences over a petrol bomb attack on the Islamic Centre of England in Maida Vale, north-west London. The February attack caused a fire inside the centre’s grounds but nobody was injured.
Zand, from Edgware, pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday 13 November 2026 to possessing an explosive with intent to injure property. He had already pleaded guilty on Wednesday 11 November to causing an explosion likely to endanger life or injure property. He is awaiting sentence.
What happened at the Islamic Centre of England?
Police were called shortly after midnight on Tuesday 3 February 2026, after a security guard reported incendiary devices being thrown over the centre’s perimeter wall. Officers said the attacker approached the site, lit one of the devices and threw two bottles containing accelerant into the grounds before leaving by car.
A cabin inside the grounds caught fire. The main building escaped damage and no injuries were reported. The Metropolitan Police’s initial account also referred to damage to a parked vehicle, a detail absent from its later conviction announcement.
Detectives used CCTV footage to trace the movements of the person responsible and automatic number-plate recognition cameras to link a vehicle to Zand. He was arrested near his home later on 3 February. Investigators also recovered the bottles used in the attack.
Footage of the incident has been released and can be viewed in The Independent’s video report. The footage shows an incendiary object being thrown towards a structure within the grounds.
What have police said about the motive?
The Met says it treated the attack as a hate crime. Detectives suspect Zand targeted the Islamic Centre because he believed it was linked to the Iranian government. That is the police’s assessment of his possible motive, not a separate finding established by the guilty pleas.
The centre has previously been the focus of demonstrations involving supporters and opponents of Iran’s government. Zand is a British national who was born in Iran, according to the Met.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Ridley, who led the investigation, called it a “premeditated and deeply disturbing attack” and warned that it could have caused loss of life.
What is the background to the centre?
The Islamic Centre of England is a registered charity. The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry in November 2022 following concerns about governance and earlier events at the premises.
In May 2025 the regulator issued a formal order requiring improvements to oversight, speakers and online content, having identified misconduct or mismanagement. The Commission said trustees disputed some of its legal findings.
The regulator also reported that a former provision requiring one trustee to serve as the UK religious representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader had been removed from the charity’s governing document and that the person occupying the role had left it.
These regulatory findings provide context for the controversy surrounding the centre. They do not establish why Zand committed the attack, nor do they suggest that people attending the centre were responsible for any alleged political association.
What happens next?
Zand accepted responsibility for the attack in court, according to police, but said he had been experiencing mental health difficulties at the time. No judicial assessment of that claim was available in the statements reviewed.
He is due to be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court. As of 14 November 2026, no sentencing date or sentence had been announced in the police statement. The outcome, including any findings the judge makes about motive, remains the next development to follow.
Sources and further reading
- Metropolitan Police: conviction statement, 13 November 2026
- Metropolitan Police: initial attack statement, 3 February 2026
- Charity Commission: governance order, 16 May 2025
- Charity Commission: opening of inquiry, 22 November 2022
- The Independent: CCTV footage, 14 November 2026
Follow the story: This report covers the guilty pleas. Sentencing is still outstanding. See the Iman Zand updates archive for any verified sentencing outcome and subsequent developments.
