Iran plotted to kill an opposition activist in Denmark

The Associated Press informs that according to the head of Denmark’s intelligence agency, they suspected an Iranian government intelligence service had tried to carry out a plot to assassinate an Iranian Arab opposition figure on its soil. A Norwegian citizen of Iranian descent was arrested 21 October on suspicion of helping an unspecified Iranian intelligence service “to act in Denmark” and of alleged involvement in the assassination plot.

Reuters further reports that the Norwegian has denied the charges and the Iranian government also denied any connection with the alleged plot. The attack was meant to target the leader of the Danish branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), Danish intelligence chief Finn Borch Andersen said.

As Bloomberg reports, the Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen sayd the information he has received from his country’s intelligence service leaves “no doubt” that Iran’s government was planning to murder one of its citizens in Denmark. Denmark, which has recalled its ambassador from Tehran as ties between the two countries collapse, says it has received strong backing from the U.K. and the U.S. in its calls for new sanctions against Iran. “In light of the latest development, Denmark will now push for a discussion in the EU on the need for further sanctions against Iran,” Samuelsen said. 

In regard to the assassination plot, the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo twitted the following: “We congratulate the government of Denmark on its arrest of an Iranian regime assassin. For nearly 40 years, Europe has been the target of Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks. We call on our allies and partners to confront the full range of Iran’s threats to peace and security.” 

Prepared by Marina Muradyan