Berlin (AP) A man suspected of gathering information on Jewish locations and individuals in Berlin for Iranian intelligence, possibly with a view to attacks, has been arrested in Denmark, German prosecutors said Tuesday.
The Danish national, identified only as Ali S. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Thursday in the Danish city of Aarhus, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
The man was tasked by an Iranian intelligence service early this year with gathering information on “Jewish localities and specific Jewish individuals” in Berlin, prosecutors said. They didn’t elaborate.
He spied on three properties in June, “presumably in preparation of further intelligence activities in Germany, possibly including terrorist attacks on Jewish targets,” prosecutors said.
Ali S is accused of taking photographs of buildings, including the German-Israeli Society and a house linked to Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Mr Schuster said he was shocked by the news of an apparent attempt on his life.
“The arrest of a suspected spy for the Iranian terror regime, who is said to have spied on Jewish and Israeli facilities in Germany, is a clear alarm signal,” he said. “This successful interception must be a final signal, to all those who underestimate the hatred and destruction fantasies held by the Mullah regime towards Israel and Jews across the world.”
Volker Beck, the president of the German-Israeli Society, said he wished to thank the German security services for their vigilance.
According to Der Spiegel, the German magazine, Ali S was recruited by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite Iranian military unit
Iranian Ambassador Majid Nili Ahmadabadi was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry after prosecutors announced the arrest. The Iranian Embassy in Berlin rejected what it called “unfounded and dangerous allegations” of an apparent plan for an attack on Jewish facilities. It said in an emailed statement that they “appear to be part of a deliberate campaign” to divert attention from “the recent aggression of the Israeli regime against Iranian territory” and the killing of Iranians.
