Iranian espionage service suspected of assassination plot in Denmark: the head of security

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark said on Tuesday that it was suspected that an intelligence service of the Iranian government would have attempted to carry out a plot to badbadinate a member of the government. Iranian Arab opposition on its soil.

The alleged conspiracy, according to which the Danish Foreign Minister thought the Iranian government was behind, prompted the Nordic country to demand new EU-wide sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

A Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin was arrested in Sweden on October 21 in connection with the plot and extradited to neighboring Denmark, the Swedish security police said.

The Norwegian denied the accusations and the Iranian government also denied any connection with the alleged plot.

The attack was aimed at the head of the Danish branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), said Danish intelligence chief, Finn Borch Andersen.

ASMLA seeks to create a separate state for ethnic Arabs in the oil-producing southwestern province of Khuzestan. Arabs are a minority in Iran and some consider themselves under Persian occupation and want independence or autonomy.

"We are dealing with an Iranian intelligence agency planning an attack on Danish soil. Obviously, we can not and do not want to accept this, "Andersen told a news conference.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi rejected the charges. is a continuation of the enemy's plots aimed at damaging relations between Iran and Europe at this critical moment, "the journalist was quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying.

The EU is trying to preserve the 2015 agreement between the major powers and Iran, which curbs its nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions after the United States withdrew from the pact and imposed heavy financial sanctions on Tehran.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen described the proposed attack as "totally unacceptable" and said that British Prime Minister Theresa May had expressed her support for Denmark at a summit meeting. Meeting at Olso.

The Foreign Minister, Anders Samuelsen, said at a press conference that he thought the Iranian government was behind the attempt of attack.

CALL FOR SANCTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

"In light of the latest developments, Denmark will now press for a discussion within the EU on the need for Impose new sanctions on Iran, "Samuelsen said. The Danish ambbadador to Tehran has been recalled for consultations, Samuelsen added.

"We congratulate the Government of Denmark for arresting an badbadin of the Iranian regime," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet. "We call our allies and partners to face all the threats to Iran for peace and security."

Andersen stated that the arrested Norwegian citizen had denied to the court the prosecution for aiding a foreign intelligence service to murder in Denmark.

On September 28, the Danish police closed two important bridges for traffic and ferry services between Denmark and Sweden and Germany as part of a national police operation aimed at preventing a possible attack.

A few days earlier, the Norwegian suspect was seen photographing and monitoring the Danish home of the ASMLA leader, police said.

In November 2017, Ahmad Mola Nissi, an Iranian exile who founded ASMLA, was shot dead in the Netherlands. The Danish security services then reinforced the protection of the ASMLA officer's police in Denmark and two collaborators.

Last month, Iran summoned the emissaries of the Netherlands, Denmark and Great Britain following the September 22 shooting attack on a military parade in Khuzestan in which 25 people were killed.

Iran has accused the three countries of harboring Iranian opposition groups.

Another Arab opposition group, the Ahwaz National Resistance and the militant group of the Islamic State have both claimed responsibility for it. parade attack, but did not provide conclusive evidence in support of their request.

Last week, diplomatic and security sources said that France had expelled an Iranian diplomat after a failed plot to carry out a bomb attack on a rally organized in the Paris region by a group of people. Iranian opposition in exile.