Tehran rejects any role in plot to kill leaders of German Jewish groups

Tehran summons envoy in tit-for-tat move after Berlin summoned ambassador to Iran.

Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, Iran's Ambassador to Germany, gives an interview to AFP at the Iranian embassy in Berlin on March 19, 2026 [John MacDougall/AFP]

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Germany’s ambassador after a court in Hamburg found two men guilty of plotting to kill two leaders of Jewish organisations at Tehran’s behest, accusing Berlin of leveling “baseless political allegations”.

The decision to summon envoy Axel Dittmann came after Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, on Monday over allegations that Tehran was behind the plot to assassinate the two pro-Israel public figures.

list 1 of 3 Iran expels two Germany diplomats in tit-for-tat move

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list 3 of 3 Germany arrests three men suspected of targeting Jewish institutions

“Levelling security-related accusations against Iran has long been a tactic employed by the Zionist regime and certain Western nations,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement broadcast by official news agency IRNA.

“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,” the statement added.

Berlin’s allegations stem from a court case involving two men, a Danish national and an Afghan national, who 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 said on X that the Iranian ambassador had been summoned, adding Tehran would not be allowed to “threaten our free society”.

“The malicious assassination attempts against Josef Schuster and Volker Beck will have legal consequences,” it added.

“We do not tolerate attacks on Jewish life and on those who defend it anywhere, and certainly not in Germany.”

The Dane, partially identified as Ali Hassan S, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years. The Afghan, who was recruited as his accomplice, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years.

Iran’s intelligence service steered the two men, the court said. The pair were arrested in Denmark last year and extradited.

In sentencing the men, the judge said they were guilty of “terrorist activities orchestrated by Iran”.

At the time they were charged, the Iranian embassy in Berlin released a statement rejecting what it called “unfounded allegations made at the behest of Iran’s enemies”.

柏林召见驻伊朗大使后，德黑兰也召见了大使，以示回应。

2026年3月19日，伊朗驻德国大使马吉德·尼利·艾哈迈达巴迪在伊朗驻柏林大使馆接受法新社采访。[约翰·麦克杜格尔/法新社]

伊朗外交部召见了德国大使，此前汉堡一家法院裁定两名男子受德黑兰指使密谋杀害两名犹太组织领导人罪名成立，伊朗指责柏林方面提出“毫无根据的政治指控”。

在德国周一召见伊朗大使马吉德·尼利·艾哈迈达巴迪，指控德黑兰是暗杀两名亲以色列公众人物的幕后黑手之后，德国决定召见伊朗特使阿克塞尔·迪特曼。

伊朗驱逐两名德国外交官，以示报复（共3条记录，此为第1条）

名单2/3：一名男子因涉嫌为伊朗从事间谍活动而被捕，可能与德国发生的袭击有关

德国逮捕三名涉嫌袭击犹太机构的男子（共3条记录，此为第3条）

伊朗外交部通过官方通讯社伊通社发表声明称：“长期以来，对伊朗提出与安全有关的指控一直是犹太复国主义政权和某些西方国家惯用的伎俩。”

声明还补充道：“试图用司法手段来掩盖毫无根据的政治指控，不仅无法为这些指控增添任何可信度，而且还会损害德国司法机构自身的声誉。”

柏林的指控源于一起法庭案件，案件涉及两名男子，一名丹麦公民和一名阿富汗公民。周四，汉堡一家法院判处他们有罪，罪名是计划袭击德国犹太社区主要代表团体的主席和德以协会的负责人。

德国外交部在X上表示，已召见伊朗大使，并补充说，绝不允许德黑兰“威胁我们的自由社会”。

声明还补充说：“针对约瑟夫·舒斯特和沃尔克·贝克的恶意暗杀企图将承担法律后果。”

“我们绝不容忍任何地方发生针对犹太人生命和捍卫犹太人生命的袭击，当然也绝不容忍在德国发生此类袭击。”

这名丹麦人，部分身份被确认为阿里·哈桑·S，被判处八年半监禁。被招募为他同伙的阿富汗人被判处四年半监禁。

法院称，伊朗情报部门指使了这两名男子。两人去年在丹麦被捕并被引渡回国。

法官在宣判时表示，这些人犯有“由伊朗策划的恐怖活动”罪。

在他们被指控时，伊朗驻柏林大使馆发表声明，驳斥了其所谓的“受伊朗敌人指使而提出的毫无根据的指控”。