Iran has summoned the German ambassador to Tehran. The reason is a ruling by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court against a German-Iranian. He is said to have planned an arson attack on a synagogue in Bochum.
After a verdict against a German-Iranian for planning an arson attack on a synagogue in Bochum, Iran has summoned the German ambassador. Tehran is protesting against the “unfounded accusation” of the German judiciary and the summoning of the Iranian charge d’affaires to Berlin, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. Ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel was summoned, the state news agency Irna reported.
Attack plans are said to come from Iran
The background was a verdict in the trial surrounding an arson attack on a school in Bochum, which was actually intended to target a synagogue. On Tuesday, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court sentenced a 36-year-old German-Iranian to two years and nine months in prison. According to the court’s findings, the planning of the attack was carried out by “Iranian state authorities”.
The court considered it proven that the accused had arranged the attack on a synagogue in November 2022 with a “backer” in Iran, but stopped the execution on site out of “fear of discovery” and threw the incendiary device at a neighboring school.
It was also assumed that an arson attack and shots at the rabbi’s house in Essen were connected and that it was a coordinated action to stir up uncertainty in Germany.
According to its own information, the Foreign Office summoned the Iranian chargé d’affaires on Tuesday. “We will not tolerate any foreign-controlled violence in Germany,” said the ministry in Berlin.