ATTACKS on Jewish sites in London were condemned as “abhorrent” today by Christian leaders, who offered solidarity during a “deeply distressing time.”

The support came as two teenagers were in custody over an arson attack on a synagogue in north-west London over the weekend.

Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Matt Jukes said a 17 and 19-year-old had been detained, as he confirmed that officers were investigating claims that a series of anti-semitic attacks in Britain were linked to Iranian-backed groups.

In the most recent incident, a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of Kenton United Synagogue at around midnight on Sunday, landing in a medical room.

Mr Jukes said the attacks raised the “troubling” prospect of a foreign state using hate crime to sow discord in Britain.

Investigators are working to establish whether Iran has paid British criminals to carry out acts on British soil, after a series of incidents, including an arson attack on Jewish community ambulances and attempted arson attacks at synagogues in Finchley and Kenton and a former Jewish charity in Hendon.

A group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, suspected of being backed by Iran, has claimed responsibility for most of the incidents since March 9.

Mr Jukes told LBC radio: “We’re going to look incredibly closely at whether those claims stand up.

“But now what we’ve got is the prospect of a foreign state actually using that as a mechanism to sow discord, discontent, and to create anxiety in our communities.”

The London College of Bishops said the targeting of any religious community through violence corrodes “the foundations of a diverse and peaceful society.”

The Anglican bishops warned against the normalisation of religious prejudice and urged leaders to “act decisively to protect all places of worship [and] to challenge hatred wherever it appears.”

They said: “These anti-semitic acts are abhorrent.

“Intended to intimidate Jewish communities and to make Londoners fearful in their own places of worship, they are wholly at odds with the values of our city and our society.

“All people must be able to live, gather and worship in safety, without threat or hostility.

“We stand in solidarity with those directly affected and with London’s Jewish communities at this deeply distressing time.”

The bishops said that anti-semitism “does not exist in isolation” but in a “wider pattern of religious hate and racism.”