Berlin summons Iranian ambassador over arrest of alleged spy
The man allegedly scouted Jewish sites in Berlin on orders from Iranian intelligence.
Germany warned it won't tolerate threats to Jewish life and is investigating possible terror links.
Iran's ambassador to Germany was summoned by the foreign ministry on Tuesday after the arrest in Denmark of a man suspected of spying on Jewish targets in Berlin for Tehran.
'We will not tolerate any threat to Jewish life in Germany,' the ministry said in a post on X announcing the summoning.
It added that the allegations needed to be 'thoroughly investigated'.
The Danish suspect, identified only as Ali S, was arrested in the city of Aarhus by local police on Thursday, the German federal prosecutor's office said in a statement earlier on Tuesday.
The man was 'strongly suspected of having worked for an intelligence service', they said.
READ | Iran unleashes 'wave of repression' after Israel war - activists
Ali S had, in early 2025, 'received an order from an Iranian intelligence service to collect information on Jewish localities and specific Jewish individuals in Berlin'.
To this end, he allegedly scoped out three properties in June.
The suspected reconnaissance work was 'presumably in preparation for further intelligence activities in Germany, possibly including terrorist attacks on Jewish targets', the statement said.
Speaking on a visit to Odesa in Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that, if confirmed, the incident 'would once again underline that Iran is a threat to Jews all over the world'.
According to German weekly Der Spiegel, the suspect had taken photos of buildings, including the seat of the German-Israeli Society in Berlin.
Investigators believe Ali S was working on behalf of the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Der Spiegel reported.
Germany has been on high alert for possible attacks against Jewish people since the Palestinian militant group Hamas's assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
In September, German police shot dead a young Austrian man known to have had ties to radical Islam as he was preparing to attack the Israeli consulate in Munich.
German authorities have also been on alert for potential Iranian espionage activity on their soil.
A German-Iranian national was jailed in late 2023 over a plot to attack a synagogue in the western German city of Bochum in 2022.
Authorities said the plot was planned with the help of 'Iranian state agencies'.
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