Iran Denies Involvement in Assassination Plot Against German Jewish Leaders, Summons German Ambassador

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Germany’s ambassador following a court ruling in Hamburg that found two men guilty of plotting to assassinate two leaders of Jewish organizations at Tehran's alleged direction. Iran has accused Berlin of making "baseless political allegations." The decision to summon German envoy Axel Dittmann occurred after Germany had summoned Iran's ambassador, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, on Monday. Germany's action was in response to allegations that Tehran was behind the plot to kill two pro-Israel public figures.

"Levelling security-related accusations against Iran has long been a tactic employed by the Zionist regime and certain Western nations," Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated, as reported by the official news agency IRNA. The statement further asserted, "Attempting to provide a judicial face to baseless political claims not only fails to lend any credibility to such allegations but also undermines the standing of the German judiciary itself."

These allegations from Berlin stem from a court case involving a Danish national and an Afghan national. Both were convicted in a Hamburg court 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 German Foreign Ministry announced on X that the Iranian ambassador had been summoned, emphasizing that Tehran would not be permitted to "threaten our free society." The ministry added, "The malicious assassination attempts against Josef Schuster and Volker Beck will have legal consequences." It concluded, "We do not tolerate attacks on Jewish life and on those who defend it anywhere, and certainly not in Germany."

The Danish national, identified partially as Ali Hassan S, received an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence. The Afghan accomplice was sentenced to four-and-a-half years. The court stated that Iran's intelligence service had directed the two men, who were arrested in Denmark last year and subsequently extradited. In delivering the sentences, the judge declared the men guilty of "terrorist activities orchestrated by Iran." At the time of their charges, the Iranian embassy in Berlin had issued a statement refuting what it termed "unfounded allegations made at the behest of Iran’s enemies."