By Miranda Murray and Stine Jacobsen
BERLIN/COPENHAGEN, July 1 (Reuters) – A Danish national has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran with the aim of collecting information on Jewish sites and individuals in Berlin, German prosecutors said on Tuesday.
They said the man, who they named as only Ali S under German privacy law, spied on three properties in June in preparation for further intelligence activities, including possibly attacks on Jewish targets.
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He is suspected to have received his orders from Iranian intelligence services in early 2025, prosecutors said.
According to Der Spiegel magazine, the suspect took photos of houses, including the headquarters of the German-Israeli Society.
After being transferred from neighbouring Denmark, the suspect will be brought before an investigating judge of Germany’s Federal Court of Justice, prosecutors said.
The suspect was remanded in custody until July 23, pending extradition to Germany, Denmark’s PET national security and intelligence service said in a statement.
The Danish foreign ministry and justice ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Iranian embassy in Berlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last month, during the air war between Iran and Israel, that Germany was prepared for Iran targeting Israeli or Jewish targets in the country, without going into detail.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, Stine Jacobsen and Friederike Heine; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Matthias Williams, Mark Heinrich and Alison Williams)
