Germany Summons Iranian Diplomat Over Suspected State-Linked Arson Attack
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the German ambassador to Tehran, Hans-Udo Muzel, in a sharp protest against a German court ruling that implicated Iran in an attempted synagogue attack. The Duesseldorf state court recently convicted a 36-year-old German Iranian man of attempted arson, sentencing him to two years and nine months in prison.
The court found that the man targeted a school in Bochum in November 2022 with an incendiary device, originally intending to attack the adjacent synagogue, which he perceived as too secure. While the defendant denied any plan to attack the synagogue, the school sustained minor damage.
Judges concluded that the man was acting on orders from a former Hells Angels member who had fled to Iran, with Iran allegedly orchestrating the attack. “The plan for the attack stems from an Iranian state institution,” stated the court, without providing further specifics. Iran has vehemently rejected the accusations, branding them as “baseless.”
This diplomatic row comes on the heels of Germany’s Foreign Ministry summoning the Iranian chargé d’affaires over the issue, a move that Tehran described as “an unacceptable measure.”
In a related development, Iran also summoned the Swedish chargé d’affaires following a Swedish appeals court’s decision to uphold the life sentence of Hamid Noury for war crimes and murder during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
