Germany summons Iran envoy over assassination plot convictions

BERLIN — Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador on Monday after two men were jailed last week over what the German foreign ministry called a "malicious" plot to assassinate pro-Israeli public figures on behalf of Tehran, according to Arab News.

A Hamburg court convicted a Danish national and an Afghan national on Thursday for planning to target the president of Germany's main group representing the Jewish community and the head of the German-Israeli society, the report said.

The foreign ministry said on X that the Iranian ambassador had been summoned. It added that Tehran would not be allowed to threaten the country's free society. The ministry also said the "malicious assassination attempts... will have legal consequences."

"We do not tolerate attacks on Jewish life and on those who defend it — anywhere, and certainly not in Germany," the ministry said, according to Arab News.

The Danish man, partially identified as Ali Hassan S., was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. Prosecutors said the 54-year-old worked directly for Iranian intelligence. He was tasked with scouting targets in Germany in preparation for assassinations and arson attacks, they said. As well as prominent pro-Israel figures, he had been planning to target a Jewish grocer's shop in Berlin, prosecutors said.

The Afghan man was sentenced to four and a half years. The court heard that he had agreed to recruit a third man and provide him with a weapon for the attack on the head of the German-Israeli society. He had been recruited as an accomplice, the report said.

Sentencing the two men, the judge said they were guilty of "terrorist activities orchestrated by Iran," according to Arab News.

The report does not say whether the Iranian ambassador has responded to the summons. It also does not give details of the third man, or whether he has been charged. Arab News did not report any further comment from the Iranian government in response to the convictions.

Background

The two men were arrested in Denmark last year and later extradited to Germany, according to Arab News. They were convicted in Germany.

When the two men were charged, the Iranian embassy in Berlin issued a statement. It rejected what it called "unfounded allegations made at the behest of Iran's enemies," according to the same report.

The Arab News report is the only source for these details. The reporting does not include independent confirmation from German courts, prosecutors or the Iranian government.