Indictment: Was Berlin attack planned on behalf of Revolutionary Guards?
The Federal Prosecutor General has indicted two men: they are alleged to have planned an attack on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Berlin. Concerns about attacks on Jewish institutions remain high. By M. Götschenberg and H. Schmidt.
Indictment over planned Iran attack in Berlin
The Federal Prosecutor General has indicted two men over the alleged preparation of an attack on Jewish targets in Berlin. According to Tagesschau, both accused are said to have acted on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Proceedings were opened before the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg.
The 54-year-old Ali S. was arrested at the end of June of last year in the Danish city of Aarhus. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already been monitoring him after the Israeli intelligence service Mossad provided a corresponding tip. When Ali S. was in Berlin, he was placed under surveillance — during this time he photographed alleged attack targets, including a Jewish supermarket, the headquarters of the German-Israeli Society and the building of the Central Council of Jews.
In mid-July, roughly two weeks after his arrest, he was transferred to Germany at the insistence of German authorities. Since then he has been held in remand.
According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, investigators are now convinced that they can prove against Ali S. not only intelligence agent activity on behalf of Iran, but also the concrete planning of an attack. Possible targets besides the reconnoitred grocery store also included the assassination of Josef Schuster, chairman of the Central Council of Jews, or Volker Beck, chairman of the German-Israeli Society and former Green Party member of the Bundestag. According to investigators' assessment, this was not yet an imminent attack.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office is convinced that Ali S. was acting on behalf of the so-called Quds Force — that unit of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for foreign operations.
In the course of further investigations, at the beginning of November of last year, the 42-year-old Afghan national Tawab M. was also arrested in Aarhus. He had "for some time been engaged in Denmark in procuring weapons and accessories as well as technology for explosive devices", the Federal Prosecutor's Office stated at the time. From May he is said to have been in contact with Ali S. and at the end of the month agreed to procure a weapon for a third person in order to carry out an attack on Jewish or Israeli targets in Germany. Ali S. is said to have taken on the role of instigator, who was to recruit further persons on behalf of the Iranian Quds Force for possible attacks.
The indictment falls in a period of heightened security concerns. According to German security authorities' assessment, the ongoing war between Israel and Iran has further increased the risk of attacks in Germany. Due to Germany's traditionally close relations with Israel, the country is considered a preferred target of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
On 10 April, an arson attack on an Israeli venue in Munich drew attention, in which no one was injured. A video claiming responsibility from a group called "Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al Islamia" (Hayi) surfaced — an organisation about which little is known so far and which may be controlled by the Revolutionary Guards. However, there are doubts as to whether Hayi was actually behind the attack. The group claims responsibility for numerous attacks on Jewish or American facilities in several European cities, including London, Antwerp, Liège and Amsterdam.
The alleged mastermind, a Shia Iraqi, was last arrested in Turkey at the insistence of US authorities and extradited to the United States a few days ago. In the investigation of European perpetrators, a pattern emerged: so-called low-level agents were recruited — some very young, some already with criminal records and willing to carry out arson attacks for comparatively small sums of money. Security authorities are already familiar with a similar modus operandi from Russian intelligence operations in Europe.
Source: Tagesschau