Three Norwegian brothers arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo

Three Norwegian brothers have been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” at the US embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage at the weekend but no injuries.The police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference that the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.Hatlo said: “We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity. This is quite natural given the target – the US embassy – and the security situation the world is in today.”He added that the investigation would seek to clarify exactly what roles the brothers, who were in their 20s and not previously known to police, had played.“We believe that one of them is the person who placed the bomb outside the embassy and that the other two were complicit in the act,” Hatlo told reporters, adding that police were not ruling out links to “criminal networks”.Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo said one of the possible motives being investigated was whether this was ‘an order from a government entity’. Photograph: Lise Åserud/APThe Norwegian security service PST said in its annual threat assessment last month that Iran, which it considers one of the main threats to Norway, could rely on proxy actors including criminal networks to commit acts.The blast took place at around 1:00am local time on Sunday at the entrance to the embassy’s consular section.American embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East owing to US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Several have faced attacks as Tehran responds by targeting industrial and diplomatic facilities.